It is undeniable that Pinoys love to make saucy, gooey, yummy, and saucy dishes. Since the country is abundant in coconut, most of our favorite dishes have a thick creamy sauce dressing. On this end, we'll be showcasing how to prepare chicken pastels.
With the advent of all-purpose cream, preparing chicken pastel recipes has become more accessible and easier. Besides, variations of this meal have already emerged among Pinoy families. Some recipe versions have marinated chicken; others have hotdogs or chicken sausages.
Regardless, in this article, we will share how to cook creamy chicken pastels using natural and improvised components. We will walk you through some different methods of preparing your chicken pastel.
What Is Creamy Filipino Chicken Pastel Dish
For Pinoys, creamy chicken pastel or white meat pastel Filipino refers to a traditional saucy chicken casserole meal, chicken sausages, green peas, carrots, and taters. As a custom, you can see this food includes in the menus intended to be ready, such as festivities, special occasions, and other important social gatherings. Despite its prestige as the main course, it is simple to make due to simple elements you can buy in any store. Also, it is ready in just mins.
Besides, profounded below is one of the many recipe versions of chicken pastel most Pinoys like. Please take a close look at the descriptions and try to incorporate them into your recipe.
Variation of Filipino Recipes
There are many creamy chicken pastel recipe in making, as Pinoy families concocted their version of the chicken recipesl. It is usually done by marinating the diced chicken meat in soy sauce and lemon or calamansi juice for more than 30 minutes to an hour—afterward, a skillet of chicken and sauteing the sliced hotdogs until it is lightly browned.
Over time, Pinoy families have come up with different recipe versions of this chicken serving. The recipes' diversions also bring numerous influences, such as geographical location, availability of resources, and preparing styles. In other words, the changes were mostly substitutions of some, if not most, of the original ingredients. You can see how time and century change just by looking at the transformation of the recipes.
The classic recipe version of this meal is pastel chicken with eggs. You will need peeled pre-boiled quail eggs, diced chicken breasts, carrots, green, bell pepper, and taters in making this. Added with nestle cream with garlic and onions.
Akin to pastel chicken with eggs is the Kapampangan's pastel with Sipo egg. This pastel recipe consists of green peas, carrots, turnips (singkamas), and quail eggs. In the same way, cover it with cream, but the chicken is not necessarily marinade.
You can see that some would use gata (coconut milk) as a substitute instead of all-purpose cream in other recipe variations. This ingredient is natural and abundant all over the archipelago. Thus, using it in other dishes that require cream or milk in a meal.
Finally, the use of Vienna sausages or chorizo de Bilbao is an eye-catching topping in chicken pastels. However, if there is none, replace it with the usual breakfast hotdogs.
Troubleshooting Recipes
Mishaps are bound to happen, particularly for a saucy dish like pastel. We have discussed some of the problems that might challenge your patience in executing this excellent cuisine. Be mindful and take charge when these occur.
An easy fix for salty taste
One of the natural catastrophes is when the taste is overly salty. To address this, gradually add water until it reaches the desired flavor. Moreover, you can add potatoes to this vegetable, which is known as salt absorbent. However, don't rely so much on potatoes; it can work in some instances but not in all. In the first place, just put a little
Fixing curdled sauce in minutes
Another nemesis in pastel chicken recipes is when you unintentionally produced a curdled cream. Curdling occurs when the milk fats from the creamy sauce start to separate from the liquid. It happened when you are excited and excessively beat or mixed it.
Likewise, this recipe problem may occur when you let the dressing become over-boiled. For your information, creams are composed of 20 to 40 percent of milk fats, depending on the brand.
salt and gradually increase it according to your desired taste.
To fix this, you need to act by uncurling the cream quickly. You may employ the base you used amounting to about a teaspoon. It can be vinegar, wine, or even water. Then, dash it into a cooking pot and add the curdled cream. Stir it hard and thoroughly using a whisk until the desired texture appears.
When the cream is still sour, you can tell that it is still savable. So, it must be uncurdled by mixing one tablespoon of fresh cream using an electric mixer at a regular speed. Then, continuously pour the cream while simultaneously increasing the speed until the cream becomes smooth. Thus, you can also use a wire whisk to smoothen up the lumps.
Trivia About Good Pastel Recipes
Did you know that the original chicken pastel was the Spanish pastel de Pollo? It is a chicken pot pie that has a filling composed of blended elements. It is similar to the locals' empanada or chicken tart.
Are you wondering how to make this? When creating pie crust by making the dough, use flour, an inch cube of butter, and eggs. Mix the flour mixture until you come up with the right dough consistency. Put some flour when kneading the dough to avoid it from being too sticky. Divide into two parts—one for the crust and one for the cover.
Once the pie crust is ready, it is rolled over to a casserole then combine with chicken or any meat and vegetables. Then, covered it with the remaining pie crust. You can brush egg wash or melted butter on top to achieve a flaky crust. Set to the oven and served once done.
Tips for Cooking Chicken Pastel
Here are some new lenient tips we have enlisted to level up your cooking efficiency to help you even more. If you want to enhance or maintain your creamy chicken pastel's sauciness and flavor, do these tips, and they will save you from horror kitchen stories.
Aside from chicken you can use pork or beef as your meat in this recipe, we suggest using the breast chicken for a healthier choice. Not only is it healthy, but this recipe can also save you prep time in the kitchen, for it finishes quickly.
More importantly, don't heat the dressing until it is already boiling. Instead, continuously mix it until it simmers. You have to be patient here because simmering the dressing will form lumps, and your dressing will curdle. Just be alert and quickly respond if this occurs. Also, waiting time and following the recipe is not new to cooking; this will not be hard on your part. Review the remedy mentioned above.
Also, use an inch of butter or olive oil in sauteing the chicken meat and the veggies to transform it into a smoother delicious taste. You can also add some dry herbs such as rosemary to give it a tangy flavor in recipes like this.
To avoid your veggies being overcooked or underdone, always saute first the ones you think will take more minutes/mins to be done, says, for example, the carrots or taters. Make sure the cut on the veggies is similar too. The inch size is perfect for it to finish faster. When done, add the remaining vegetables you think will be done more quickly than the rest.
Keep in mind to always use the freshest and newest components whenever you prepare any meal. It is the secret in all recipes. Believe us when we say it does wonder and is different from the elements that are not fresh.
Lastly, when you cut the chicken meat and veggies, always cut them in the same proportion and size, so that when you assemble them, cook them evenly.
Best Served With
Now you might be thinking of what chicken pastel recipe could be perfect with. We have some fantastic ideas to share with you, but you can also try to do whatever crazy ideas you might think of.
- Since rice is a staple food for all Pinoys, it is an immediate partner of this chicken pastel recipe. After all, it is a knockout viand for lunch or dinner or in a fiesta where rice is ever-present.
- Chili relish- if you are in for a little adventure, you can put chili relish to spice this up. Spiciness can make this serving plate delicious to the taste buds.
- Soft Drinks or juice - It is not new that any Pinoy would agree, maybe even you, to eliminate soft drinks or any juice from the food table. Chicken pastels can be significantly served together with these beverages as with any other meal.
- Soup - Chicken pastel recipes are food all about creaminess. It can make you a little bit feel "umay." You can prepare a soup with a runny, light, and thin consistency like bone soup, or better, a bulalo soup, or the classic papaitan would do wonders.
- Noodles - talking about soup, chicken pastels can be served together with noodles, too! Try it and give us some feedback about it!
- Empanada- since this recipe naturally has almost the same elements as the chicken pastel, you can safely serve it with freshly baked empanadas, too
- Toasted bread - If you don't feel like having it with rice, you can try eating it with some toasted bread. It will be the right combination since chicken pastels stemmed from being a filling on bread.
Conclusion
You might have perceived that the chicken pastel recipe is a foreign plate before you stumbled upon this blog. Now, you are happy to know that it is an original Pinoy salver. Further, this meal won't take out too much from your budget, so what are you waiting for? We know you are excited, and we can feel you.
Now that you have learned how to prepare chicken pastels. You can already dare to prepare. Besides, the name is not too intimidating anymore. You have the liberty to add this serving to your menu list while using this guide. Plan your lunch menu with this impressive manageable platter and tell us precisely about it!
For more delicious recipes, visit Eat Like Pinoy!
Recipe
Best Chicken Pastel Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb Chicken chopped
- 3 cloves Garlic minced
- 1 pc Onion large size, chopped
- 2 pcs Chicken Hotdog small size, quartered
- 1 pc Carrot small size, cubed
- 1 pc Green Bell Pepper small size, sliced
- ½ tablespoon Black Pepper
- 8 pcs Quail's eggs boiled
- 1 pc Potato large size, cubed
- 1 tablespoon Cooking oil
- 1 tablespoon Fish Sauce
- 1 cup Water
- 1 cup Nestle Cream
- 1 tablespoon Cornstarch
Instructions
- Heat oil in a pan. Sauté garlic until brown, then add the onion.
- Add the chicken and black pepper. Then cook while covered for about 5 minutes.
- Then put water and carrots, cook and cover for 5 minutes.
- Pour the Nestle Cream, bell pepper and quail's eggs. Cover and let it cook for another 5 minutes.
- Add the melted cornstarch and pour into the pan. Stir well and wait until cook.
- Serve while hot!
