Minanok Recipe

Minanok Recipe

Do you prefer beef over chicken but want the taste of tinola? No problem! Try this minanok soup recipe to satisfy your cravings.

Minanok is a Filipino dish that’s basically a variation of the chicken tinola recipe. Except with minanok, the main protein ingredient is beef rather than chicken. When I first heard of the name of this dish, I completely thought it was some kind of chicken dish and I’m sure I’m not alone. The name minanok is probably in reference to the original Filipino dish that inspired this recipe: tinolang manok or chicken tinola. So the beef is cooked like the chicken in tinolang manok.

That’s my interpretation of its name. There’s no official explanation of how this dish got its name but that’s the best thing I can come up with. I’m also sure that I’m not the only one who came to this conclusion.

Like I said, this minanok dish is basically a beef version of tinolang manok. All the ingredients and the cooking process are the same. You can probably just use your everyday tinolang manok recipe, just replace the chicken with beef, and you can say that you’ve made your homemade minanok dish.

The minanok dish originated in the province of Quezon where there’s probably plenty of beef to use for their Filipino recipes, I’m guessing. I was actually visiting the province and that’s where I first encountered the minanok soup at a popular local carinderia. I wanted to try something new and the cashier recommended minanok.

When my order came to our table, I was very confused because there’s no chicken to be seen on the table. Instead, there’s a fragrant bowl of broth with beef chunks and leafy vegetables. I asked the waiter if they got my order all wrong and he replied “Tama po yan, sir. Minanok po, diba?”

The order’s correct, sir. That’s minanok.

So I was immediately intrigued. This dish was nothing like I envisioned at all. I was in Quezon at that time for business so it slipped my mind to do some research on the local cuisine unlike with my other trips in the Philippines.

I thanked the kuya waiter and took my first taste of the broth. It was delicious. It got a savory beef flavor and it was very evident that at its root, this dish is made with a traditional tinola recipe through and through.

So, with my curiosity satisfied, I did the only rational thing that I could think of at that time. I poured the broth over the cup of white rice on my plate, took out the chunks of beef, add in the leafy green vegetables on top, and dug in. That was one satisfying meal in Quezon.

Minanok is definitely a must-try Filipino dish if you’re ever in the Quezon province.

Of course, being the person that I am, I wanted to recreate this minanok dish at home. It’s really a simple dish to make, especially if you’ve mastered tinolang manok. This just required an extra cooking time because of the use of beef. So I recommend using a pressure cooker if you’re not fond of boiling your beef for hours to get it tender.

Similar to tinola, for this minanok recipe, you first need to saute ginger and garlic in a pot until it’s tender. Then add the beef ribs into the mix and saute that until its color changes. This is the time to add water in the pot just enough to submerge the beef. Boil it and once boiled and the beef is tender, it’s time to add seasoning and your leafy greens. Simple right?

I opt not to add green papaya in this recipe as it washes out the beef flavor, in my opinion. But it’s totally up to you and your taste preference to add or not to add green papaya in this recipe.

Still wondering if this recipe will work? Well go on and give it a try. All the ingredients that are used for this minanok recipe are listed down below where you can also find the step by step cooking instructions. Pair this savory broth with a serving of white rice and you’ve got yourself a delicious meal. Enjoy!

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Minanok Recipe

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Ingredients

  

• 2 tbsps cooking oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 thumb-size ginger sliced to strips
• ½ kilo beef ribs
• 200 grams mustasa leaves
• Salt and pepper
• Patis
• Water

Instructions

 

• Sauté ginger and garlic until fragrant.
• Add the beef ribs and sauté the beef until the color changes.
• Add water, allow the broth to boil and reduce the heat to low.
• Slowly simmer the beef until tender.
• Once the beef is tender, season with salt and pepper and patis.
• Add the mustasa leaves and simmer.
• Serve.