Chicken Tinola

Chicken tinola is a fragrant Filipino soup built with ginger, garlic, onion, and fish sauce, plus tender vegetables and leafy greens. Traditional versions often include green papaya or sayote (chayote) and labuyo chile leaves. 2024 Best New Chef Silver Iocovozzi of Neng Jr.’s in Asheville, North Carolina, uses cabbage, celery, and spinach — ingredients that are easy to find while preserving the soup’s deeply aromatic character.

Iocovozzi builds the broth by cooking onion and a generous amount of fresh ginger until the onion softens and the ginger begins to brown. Bone-in chicken legs then simmer gently in water, creating a clear, savory broth and tender meat that’s shredded and returned to the pot. Cabbage, celery, and spinach add layers of texture, while one or two whole chiles add a gentle warmth.

The whole chile is a particularly personal touch for Iocovozzi, who leaves it whole for mild heat or slices it for more spice. “I grew up with my mom removing it from the dish entirely because she dislikes spice, so I only experienced the soup with mild heat,” Iocovozzi says. “I typically stick true to her method.”

Can I make chicken tinola without fish sauce?

Fish sauce provides much of the broth’s umami and seasoning, so it is an important part of the recipe. If you don’t have fish sauce, using a mixture of soy sauce and anchovy paste with a pinch of salt is a widely available substitute. 

Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen

• Peel the ginger with the edge of a spoon, which follows its irregular shape while preserving the flesh.
• Leave the chile whole for a mild soup, slit it for medium heat, or slice it if you want a broth with considerable kick.
• If you plan to freeze the soup, omit the spinach and stir it in after the soup has thawed and reheated.

This recipe was developed by Silver Iocovozzi; the text was written by Craig Ruff.