Afritadang Manok

Afritada in my young years evoked carinderia cooking as I remember the smell of Tita Sylvia’s simple Afritada in her mini turo-turo that attracted hordes of Balic-balic-Quiapo drivers during lunch time. It was a simple mix of chicken with fresh tomato sauce that others might taste as “malansa”. I do not recall ginger as part of her recipe but that simple preparation is more than enough for my 10 year-old taste at that time. It must have been the spirit of the times. It was the late 70s and everything was simple then, I guess.


Then my Pakil, Laguna summers in my high school years raised the ante of my Afritada appreciation when I tasted their version cooked in wood fire giving it that smoky tang. As time passed, my Afritada cooking bordered on the simple and never learned how to execute the Pakil version. It was only when I checked on some Food Magazine recipe on Chicken Afritada ala Laguna. I never thought that simply adding vinegar will turn the tables around making it almost closer but not quite that Laguna-style that I’ve been longing to duplicate. It must be the wood-fire.