Well, not to worry. Chicken is very versatile, meaning you can make a bunch of dishes with it. Check out these suggestions from The Bailiwick Academy! 

How to prepare and cook a whole chicken: Chinese-style!

Pinoys love Chinese food because it has been part of our culture for over a hundred years. So if you’re going to add anything to your Christmas menu that’s chicken, why not refer to some Chinese recipes? 

There are actually three you can look at: Soy Chicken, Hainanese Chicken, and their version of a roast chicken recipe. All three are sure crowd pleasers and will definitely satisfy hungry tummies.

Learn the recipes for those at our Authentic Chinese Roasting class!

Tinola 

If you’re looking for a whole chicken to go with soup recipes, tinola is one you shouldn’t miss out on. It’s a popular chicken recipe here in the Philippines where the chicken is boil in broth with vegetables such as gabi and sayote, and flavored with ginger.

The soup is also flavorful and soothing and is perfect for the more chilly weather this December.

How do I cook a raw whole chicken? Just bake it!

So contrary to popular belief, you don’t need a rotisserie machine to get started on baking chicken. How do you cook a whole chicken in the oven, exactly?

Well, there are actually plenty of recipes out there, but it’s not rocket science, to be honest. All you need is some salt and pepper, olive oil or butter, and your desired herbs and spices. Season the chicken, pop it into your oven and cook depending on your recipe of choice.

You’ll end up with some delicious baked whole chicken that everyone will be dying to get their hands on!

Adobo

Here’s another basic thing you can do with your whole chicken: adobo! It’s a well-known Filipino chicken recipe that we’re sure all Filipinos know about. Even foreign celebrities love it!

And here’s the fun part: how you make it will vary depending on where you got your recipe from in the Philippines. Sure, it has soy sauce and garlic as the main ingredients, but you can make it mildly spicy or very spicy depending on your preference.

Personally, we’d prefer that added kick for more variety and festivity come noche buena!

Oh and if you don’t get to finish it during dinner, at least you can be sure it won’t spoil – that means plenty of leftovers!

Pininyahang Manok

If you were asked “How to make a good whole chicken?”, one of the last things that would enter your mind would be something that involved pineapples, right? But hey, let’s get real: we Filipinos love the combination of sweet and salty in our food! 

And one dish that definitely highlights this is the pininyahang manok, or pineapple chicken as a rough translation. Aside from the obvious ingredients, this stew also has carrots, bell peppers, and sometimes potatoes. You’ll get a rich and savory broth when you add milk and fish sauce.

It’s definitely something special in our opinion!

How to prepare and cook a whole chicken: Chicken inasal!

Chicken inasal simply means grilled chicken. Get your whole chicken, chop it up, marinate the parts with a mixture of calamansi, garlic, coconut vinegar, and annatto, and grill over hot coals. It’s actually a pretty common street food in the Philippines, and very popular too. After all, we have plenty of restaurants who serve this as their main offering!

But why bother going over to restaurants when you can just make your own at home, right? Plus, the grilling process outside lends to a more festive experience where your visitors can watch and salivate as you do your cooking. Think of barbecues in the United States, but with our local taste, right?

Arroz con Pollo 

We’ve talked about Arroz con Pollo before in this blog, so isn’t it nice that we’re talking about this delicious chicken dish again? It’s basically rice with chicken and is a popular Latin-American dish. What’s not basic about it is that it has many variations depending on who makes it.

Just like we mentioned before, the basic ingredients of this dish, aside from rice and chicken, are saffron, dry white wine, bay leaf, onions, garlic, bell pepper, chicken stock, olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste.

Some recipes call for additional vegetables, herbs, spices, and even tomato sauce.

This cooked chicken is flavorful because it combines the juiciness of the chicken, the flavors of the herbs and spices, and the rice cooked in chicken stock and other mouth-watering ingredients. Yum!

And if you’re into this particular dish, check out Chef Joey Prats’ version here: Arroz con Pollo y Chorizo! With the addition of chorizo and other ingredients using Chef Joey’s personal recipe, it’s guaranteed to make you and everyone else scream for more!

Malaysian-Style Chicken Curry

If you’re good with the idea of having Chinese food during Christmas, why not try one with a Southeast Asian flavor? Malaysian-style chicken curry is a tasty and aromatic dish with spices, coconut milk, and potatoes that compose a delicious sauce. Eat with rice or bread for full enjoyment!

Or even better? Eat it with nasi lemak, fragrant rice cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaves. No need to go to Malaysia for this too: just enroll in Chef Him Uy De Baron’s Hawker-Style Specials class!

How to prepare and cook a whole chicken: with ginisang sayote!

Just because it’s the holidays doesn’t mean we should give up on vegetables, right? Ginisang sayote with chicken is an easy-to-prepare dish that is made by cooking diced sayote and chicken and using tomatoes and oyster sauce for added flavoring. This flavorful and nutritious vegetable dish is great with rice, and will help keep you healthy during the holiday season.

Creamy mushroom chicken

If you want to make a chicken dish that’s not only delicious but is sure to please everyone, make a creamy mushroom chicken dish. It’s composed of tender chunks of chicken, all-purpose cream, and tasty mushrooms. Add some garlic for extra depth and flavor and you get a true culinary masterpiece!

It’s great for serving with wine, too – which means it’s great for eating with a nightcap this Christmas season.

Speaking of how to prepare and cook a whole chicken…

There’s one more dish we forgot to mention on this list – and it’s probably one of the best things you can do with a whole chicken this holiday season!

Have you heard of chicken galantina? 

It’s a chicken dish stuffed with many tasty fillings. It’s also been enjoyed by many generations of Pinoys for Christmas and other special occasions. And while it’s super delicious, it can be quite challenging to make. 

Well, The Bailiwick Academy has your back with Chef Max Nadin and his latest class: Chicken Galantina!

Enroll in this class and the question “How do you cook a whole deboned chicken” will be answered! You’ll be guided not just in deboning and seasoning the chicken but also making the tasty filling, and roasting everything to perfection. You’ll also learn to make two delicious sauces, and bonus recipes and instructions for a summer salad, crunchy pickled vegetables, and a rice dish!

In short, you’ll get everything you need for a delicious and festive and iconic whole chicken dinner for Christmas! Plus, you can add this to your food business for 2023. After all, New Year IS coming up… as well as many other special occasions!

So what are you waiting for? Create a winner chicken dinner today! Sign up at The Bailiwick Academy! 

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Keep coming back to The Bailiwick Academy blog for more kitchen tips, tricks, and much more!

The post How to Prepare and Cook a Whole Chicken! appeared first on Online Baking and Cooking Classes - The Bailiwick Academy.