Our go-to chicken soup is Chicken Tinola. That got a bit boring, so to spice things up, we started cooking Halang Halang. Halang Halang is Visayan dish, which literally means “spicy, spicy”. Our version needs only a few ingredients – half a chicken, ginger, lemongrass, and chili peppers.
Like most dishes, there are different ways to make halang halang. Some use coconut milk, but we stick with the basic version.
Halang Halang
Filipino "Spicy Spicy" Chicken Soup similar to Tinola but with a kick.
Ingredients
- 1/2 whole chicken, skin removed and sliced into small pieces
- 1 knob of ginger, peeled and sliced
- 1 stalk of lemongrass
- 1/2 onion, sliced
- 2 scallions, chopped
- 10 cups water
- 1 tbsp oil
- 5 chili peppers
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Clean lemongrass and slice off the dark green tops, keeping only the light green part of the stalk. Slice lemongrass to 1 inch long pieces. Using the back of a knife, pound ends of lemongrass to release flavor.
- Heat oil in a pot over medium heat.
- Add ginger and onion and sauté for 3 minutes
- Add lemongrass and chicken.
- Cover chicken with water. Cook for about 30 minutes.
- Add scallions and chili peppers. Cook for an additional 20 minutes.
- Serve over rice.
