Chicken tocino
Filipino sweet-cured chicken that caramelizes into sticky, garlicky, ruby-edged bites, with rice and a fried egg for the full breakfast-for-dinner.
- 65 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $2.09 a serving
- 640 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 lb boneless chicken thighs, thinly sliced
- 1½ cups long-grain white rice
- 4 large eggs (optional)
- 2 tomatoes, sliced (optional)
From your pantry
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 1½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2½ cups water, divided
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
Each serving has about 640 calories, 50 g protein, 75 g carbs and 13 g fat, and costs about $2.09 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No boneless chicken thighs? Chicken breasts or chicken tenderloins work.
- No long-grain white rice? Jasmine rice or basmati rice works.
- No tomatoes? Roma tomatoes work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the brown sugar, salt, garlic, paprika and pepper in a bowl, add the chicken, and massage the mix in. Cover and in the fridge for 30 minutes, or overnight for the real thing.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Marinate. Marinating means letting food sit in a flavorful liquid, called a marinade, before you cook it. Always marinate in the fridge, and never reuse marinade from raw meat unless you boil it first.
How you’ll know: The food is coated all over, sealed in a bag or covered dish, and chilling in the fridge.
Timer: 30 min
Dolly’s tip: Marinated tocino freezes beautifully. Bag it flat, thaw it overnight in the fridge, and cook it on a busy night.Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
While the chicken marinates, the rice and bring it with 2¼ cups of water in a medium over high heat.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
High heat
once, cover, turn the heat to low and cook 18 minutes. Take it off the heat and keep the lid on.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Low heatTimer: 18 min
Put the chicken and all its in a large with the last ¼ cup of water and over medium 8 to 10 minutes, turning, until the water cooks away.
Marinate. Marinating means letting food sit in a flavorful liquid, called a marinade, before you cook it. Always marinate in the fridge, and never reuse marinade from raw meat unless you boil it first.
How you’ll know: The food is coated all over, sealed in a bag or covered dish, and chilling in the fridge.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heatTimer: 9 min
Add the oil and fry 3 to 4 minutes per side, until and sticky and the thickest piece reads 165°F.
Caramelize. Caramelizing means cooking slowly until the natural sugars turn deep golden brown. It turns sharp onions soft, jammy and sweet, and it often takes 30 minutes or more.
How you’ll know: They’re soft, sticky and amber brown, and they taste sweet rather than sharp.
Medium heatTimer: 7 min
Dolly’s tip: Sugar burns quickly once the water is gone. Turn the heat down a little and keep turning.Food safety: Chicken and turkey are done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
If you like, fry an egg per person in the same pan until the whites are set.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min
Serve the tocino with the rice, eggs and tomatoes.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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