KINAMATISANG MANOK
Tita Becky •
Oct 14, 2025
Here’s a “lutong-bahay” or homestyle dish that you’ll never find in any Filipino restaurants. A staple dish in Filipino house-holds, KINAMATISANG MANOK or Chicken Tomato Stew is bone-in chicken cooked in aromatics like onion, garlic and ginger, fish sauce and a lot of tomatoes until soft and tender. Leafy greens like long bokchoy is added in the end for texture and added nutrition. It’s aromatic, comforting and delicious.
I have fond memories of my mom cooking this dish when I was a little kid. It’s easy to prepare and cook and quite affordable too. She sometimes used Malunggay or moringa leaves from our own Malunggay tree in our backyard instead of long bokchoy. I remember the aroma of garlic, onions and ginger sauteing in the kitchen as I watch TV in the living room.
Ingredients (11)
Ingredients (11)
Instructions
Preheat the pan or wok.
Add cooking oil (1 Tbsp), garlic (4 cloves), onions (½ small) and ginger (1 knob). Saute for a few minutes until fragrant.
Add chicken thighs (2–2 ½ lb). Season with salt ( to taste), black pepper ( to taste) and fish sauce and saute.
Let it brown on both sides and cook over medium-high heat.
Add tomatoes (6) and saute and continue to cook until tomatoes softens.
Add water (1 cup) and fish sauce (2 Tbsp).
Scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spatula to get all the flavors out.
Cover, bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and cook the chicken all the way through.
Add bokchoy (3–4 bunches) and cook for a couple of minutes.
Taste the broth if it needs more salt ( to taste) or fish sauce. If it's to your liking then it's ready to serve.
Serve while it's hot with steamed white rice and enjoy!
Notes
Notes
INGREDIENTS and SUBSTITUTIONS
- CHICKEN THIGHS – Bone-in chicken thighs is the best cut of meat to use for this dish. It’s more flavorful than chicken breast and get more tender and soft the longer it cooks. You can also use boneless chicken thighs if you don’t want to deal with eating around the bones.
- GINGER -Minced ginger is absolutely crucial to this dish. It enhances the overall aroma and flavor. It’s typically sauteed along with onions and garlic. The slightly spicy and warming properties of ginger compliments the tanginess of the tomatoes, creating a harmonious balance of flavors.
- TOMATOES – The star ingredient in this dish. Fresh tomatoes that gets cooked down to a sauce releases their natural acidity, which helps breaks down the protein of the chicken, making it tender and flavorful. It also adds a natural sweetness an tanginess to the dish. I used Roma tomatoes, but you can use any type of tomatoes. You can also use canned diced tomatoes.
- LONG BOKCHOY – Leafy greens like long bokchoy is added towards the end of cooking. The slightly bitter taste balances out the sweetness and tanginess of the tomatoes absorbing all the rich flavors. It cooks in minutes. You can find it at any Asian supermarkets. You can use regular bokchoy or spinach instead.
- FISH SAUCE – It’s the main seasoning of this dish. It adds umami. Fish sauce is added along with salt and black pepper when seasoning the chicken and broth.
