Tu Casa Mi Casa Chicken Tinga (Tinga de Pollo)
We’d been looking for a recipe for tinga de pollo for quite a long time; the ones I found were so simple we didn’t believe they’d be very good. This one, from Tu Casa Mi Casa — the cookbook from Mexico’s superstar chef, Enrique Olvera and his talent team of chefs (Luis Arellano, Gonzalo Goût and Daniela Soto-Innes) — is just as simple, but with all that star power behind it, we thought we should give it a whirl. You know what? It’s seriously good. And those others probably are as well.
We ate it both ways the authors suggest — the first night we had it as a soupy stew served over rice, accompanied by tortillas. The next day at lunch, we reduced it down a bit and served it on tostadas piled with shredded lettuce, crumbled queso fresco, a drizzle of crema and some fresh salsa verde. Hard to say which way we preferred — they were both so good!
Note: The original recipe calls for either dried or canned chipotles, mentioning in the headnote that it’s better made with dried ones. However the instructions were a bit foggy on how to handle them, so we used canned.
Serves 2 to 4.
Ingredients
1 pound (455 g) boneless chicken breast
2 large white onion, 1 halved and one sliced
6 garlic cloves, 3 whole and 3 sliced
1 tablespoon salt, plus more to taste
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 canned chipotles, chopped to a paste
6 large or 9 medium plum (Roma) tomatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds / 682 g.), roughly chopped
Instructions
1. In a medium pot, combine the chicken, onion halves, whole garlic cloves and 1 tablespoon of the salt. Add water to cover and bring to simmer over medium-high heat. Simmer, uncovered, until the chicken is cooked through, 30 to 40 minutes, skimming occasionally to remove impurities. Remove the chicken from the broth and let rest until it is cool enough to handle. Using your hands, pull or shred the chicken and reserve. Strain and reserve the broth as well.
2. In a medium to large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and garlic and cook until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the reserved shredded chicken, the chipotle chiles, tomatoes and one cup (240 ml) of the chicken broth (reserve the rest for other preparations). Cook until the tomato breaks down and changes to a brick color, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt. Add some more cooking broth if necessary; it should be a bit Soupy. Serve hot or let cool and refrigerate for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 1 month in an airtight container.
Tu Casa Mi Casa Chicken Tinga (Tinga de Pollo)
Ingredients
- 1 pound (455 g) boneless chicken breast
- 2 large white onion, 1 halved and one sliced
- 6 garlic cloves, 3 whole and 3 sliced
- 1 tablespoon salt, plus more to taste
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 canned chipotles, chopped to a paste
- 6 large or 9 medium plum (Roma) tomatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds / 682 g.), roughly chopped
Instructions
- In a medium pot, combine the chicken, onion halves, whole garlic cloves and 1 tablespoon of the salt. Add water to cover and bring to simmer over medium-high heat. Simmer, uncovered, until the chicken is cooked through, 30 to 40 minutes, skimming occasionally to remove impurities. Remove the chicken from the broth and let rest until it is cool enough to handle. Using your hands, pull or shred the chicken and reserve. Strain and reserver the broth as well.
- In a medium to large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and garlic and cook until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the reserved shredded chicken, the chipotle chiles, tomatoes and one cup (240 ml) of the chicken broth (reserve the rest for other preparations). Cook until the tomato breaks down and changes to a brick color, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt. Add some more cooking broth if necessary; it should be a bit Soupy. Serve hot or let cool and refrigerate for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 1 month in an airtight container.
