Chicken pastel is a Filipino savory dish with marinated chicken, sausage, vegetables, and a pastry or paste-like topping. It originates from a Spanish version of a chicken pot pie and can include any meat. Filipino families have their own traditional interpretations, and the dish is often served with rice.
Chicken pastel is a traditional savory dish that originated in the Philippines. It includes marinated chicken, sausage, vegetables, and some sort of pastry or paste-like topping. It can also be referred to as Filipino pie or Filipino chicken pie.
The dish originates from the Philippines and is derived from a Spanish version of a chicken pot pie. In Spanish, the dish is known as pastel de pollo and is similar to a pot pie or empanada. The chicken in the pie can be replaced with any meat, including pork or duck.
There are many variations of chicken pastel, and Filipino families often have their own traditional interpretations. In nearly all versions of the dish, diced chicken meat is first marinated in a mix of soy sauce and lemon juice for at least an hour, giving it a rich, tangy flavor. The chicken is then browned in a pan together with the sausage. Vienna or chorizo sausages are common, but a hot dog might be substituted for a real sausage.
After searing the meats, the stock liquid, optional cooking wine or creamer, and a variety of vegetables are added to the pan and simmered until tender. Any type of vegetable can be used in the chicken pastel. Mushrooms, peppers, onions, potatoes and peas are popular additions. Shredded or grated cheese is sometimes added to the meat and vegetable mixture to enhance the flavor and increase the creaminess of the dish.
Adding the crust and cooking the dish is the last step in completing the chicken pastel. There are several methods of creating a crust. After simmering, the chicken and vegetables are transferred to a roasting pan, where they can be topped with homemade pasta or a store-bought variety. Another option is to line the pan with sheets of puff pastry and cover with the meat batter. One could even use french fries to create a crust.
Filipinos often eat chicken pastel finished with rice. Torta is one of the many traditional dishes of the Philippines, often including some sort of meat in a dish of gravy or stew. Many Filipino foods have Spanish or Mexican roots and were brought to the Philippines by settlers a long time ago. The influx of a Chinese population in later years inspired the heavy use of rice in Filipino cuisine. Different regions of the Philippines have their own cooking styles and traditions, one of the reasons why chicken pastel has so many variations and possibilities.
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