Friday, January 17, 2014

Kok's Manok and a Closer Look at Eating Chicken


"Mommy, are we having chicken for dinner?"

Next to "what's for dinner/lunch," it's the next phrase mostly asked by my kids.  When my kids hear that chicken is for dinner, it typically brings a smile to their faces. This is because there are so many ways to prepare chicken that it can please just about anyone. What many people do not know about chicken is that it not only tastes good, but it is also good for you.

I bet you know already that it's a rich protein source and white meat as always contested is better than red meat. But do you know that it's also an anti-depressant!  Shocks!  No wonder the Coronel's fried chicken company gets richer by the minute.

Eating chicken makes you happy. No, really! It can! Studies show that eating chicken does this because it is full of tryptophan, which is an amino acid. Some studies show that people who are feeling depressed can help themselves feel better again by eating chicken. It will help increase the level of serotonin in your brain, improving your mood and relieving stress. On that same note, serotonin also helps promote a healthy sleep cycle!

However, those facts have been over-shadowed by the different ways we prepare our chicken meat.  Kids in general never get tired of eating fried chicken (oh yeah, the cholesterol), but to me as spoken in truth by my dad, chicken can be savored best in it's simplest form, no fancy-smanshy coating or sauces, not even in dishes where everything is thrown in the pot to stew with chicken.

Lechon Manok is still the best way to single out the tastiest chicken.  But with the different ways of preparing it, still it's hard to choose who stands out, specially now that pit-fired chicken stands are on every corner.

I remember my dad would cook us "litson-manok" from scratch when we were still young.  He would buy chicks and grow them.  When the time it matured and was ready for the fire, he dressed them and rubbed the skin with some mixture of salt and some sorts, then roasted them.  It used to by the highlight of any special occasion our family had.  How I miss the savoriness of those home-cooked roasts.

Till an opportune time came and had me reacquainted to that long-forgotten chicken taste.  Ms. Koko Tamura, a writer by profession have invited me to try their lechon manok.  According to her, they have just opened the take-out restaurant last August 31, 2013, but have been gaining patrons in Imus, Cavite since then.

Compared to fried chicken or inasal, roast chickens are far healthier and tastier.  Kok's Manok is cooked suspended in a fully covered rotisserie, wherein the excess oil is dripped off while leaving the natural juice of the chicken along with special marinade evident on the meat.




Kok's Manok So Juicy, So Lambot- being the tagline holds true to it's words.  As you can see in the video above, the rotisserie runs on a motor and uses a precise temperature  to perfectly cook the chicken to the inside.  The outcome is a juicy and tender meat.  I was really surprised how the chicken was evenly cooked without the skin and some parts being burnt.

For a delectable chicken like Kok's Manok, you don't even have to spend a lot to indulge on it.  At a cost of P 189 for a whole chicken (Classic Flavor) I say it's  definitely a steal.  They have it in classic flavor, but for a more intense flavor, just add P10 and have it in Garlic or Spicy.   Lucky for those who live in Imus, their location is just at Patindig Araw, near the Tricycle Terminal.


Address:  Patindig Araw
               4103 Imus, Cavite

Contact Numbers: 0927 301 7224








1 comment:

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