Cook’s notes

The chicken variant of a garlic-laden beef dish cooked with Worcestershire sauce, chicken salpicao is a fast and easy dinner main course that’s sure to please the family.

This is an updated version of the chicken salpicao recipe originally published in December 3, 2020. Differences between the old and modified recipes:

Skin-on chicken thigh fillets, not skinless breast fillets, are used in the modified recipe.
Adding olive oil to the marinade is unnecessary because the chicken skin provides enough fat to keep the meat moist.

Ten minutes to prep and ten minutes to cook. But don’t skip the marinating part because that’s what allows the chicken to soak up the beautiful flavors and aroma of the garlic.

Chicken salpicao

Prep: 10

Cook: 10

Marinating 1

Total: 1 20

Servings: 4 people

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Modern Filipino

Label: Chicken fillet, Salpicao

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Ingredients

700 to 800 grams chicken thigh fillets skin on (1.5 to 1.7 pounds) cut into one-inch cubes
3 tablespoons finely minced garlic
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
1 ½ cups sliced button mushrooms
4 to 5 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
4 to 5 tablespoons liquid seasoning (I used Knorr — I do not recommend substituting soy sauce)
2 to 3 tablespoons finely sliced scallions to garnish

Instructions

Place the chicken cubes in a bowl. Add the minced garlic and pepper. Mix well. Cover and keep in the fridge for an hour.
Heat the butter and olive oil in a wide shallow pan — wide enough to contain the chicken cubes in a single layer. The heat should be very high.
Place the chicken in a plastic freezer bag. Add the flour. Shake to coat each piece of chicken with flour. It is the flour that will thicken the sauce later and make it stick well to the chicken.
When the olive oil and butter are hot, add the floured chicken, spreading the pieces so that every piece touches the oil. Do not stir for a minute or so to allow the underside to brown. Keep the heat very high.
Stir. Cook for a few minutes, with occasional stirring, until the chicken changes color and a light crust forms.
Add the mushrooms, cook just until softened, stirring occasionally.
Pour in the Worcestershire sauce and liquid seasoning. Stir briskly; the sauce should thicken quite fast.
Continue cooking until the liquid seasonings have been soaked up by the chicken and mushrooms.
Ladle rice into shallow bowls, top each with a heap of chicken salpicao, garnish with scallions and serve immediately.