Focused recipe

Pocherong Manok

Pocherong Manok is a Filipino chicken stew simmered in a light tomato-based broth with vegetables and saba bananas, creating a comforting balance of savory and naturally sweet flavors.

Difficulty Hard
Time 35 min
Servings 4
Ingredients 17
Steps 13
Pocherong Manok
Filipino Recipe Updated 5/31/2025

Ingredients

Measured from the catalog payload.

  • 2 lbs chicken cut into serving pieces
  • 1 maggi magic chicken cube
  • 3 pieces saba banana sliced diagonally
  • 2 pieces potato sliced into large cubes
  • 14 ounces chickpea
  • 15 pieces long green bean
  • 1/2 cabbage quartered
  • 1 bok choy
  • 1 yellow onion chopped
  • 5 cloves garlic chopped
  • 2 pieces tomato wedged
  • 2 pieces chorizo de bilbao sliced
  • 3 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup cooking oil
  • fish sauce
  • ground black pepper

Instructions

13 cooking steps

  1. Heat the cooking oil in a wok. Fry the bananas and potatoes until it starts to brown. Set aside.
  2. Leave around 3 tablespoons of oil in the wok. Pan-fry the chicken for 2 minutes on each side. Remove the chicken and set aside.
  3. Add 2 tablespoons more of cooking oil. Sauté the onion for 1 minute.
  4. Stir-in the garlic. Continue sautéing until it starts to brown and then add the tomatoes. Sauté it for 1 minute.
  5. Add the chorizo. Stir and then add back the chicken. Continue to sauté this for 2 minutes.
  6. Add the tomato paste and pour 2 cups of water into the wok. Let it boil.
  7. Add Maggi Magic Chicken Cube. Stir,
  8. Add the chickpeas, potatoes, and bananas. Cook for 2 minutes.
  9. Put the long green beans and cabbage. Cover and continue cooking for 3 minutes.
  10. Season with fish sauce and ground black pepper.
  11. Add the bok choy. Cover the wok. Turn the heat off and let the residual heat cook it for 2 minutes.
  12. Transfer to a serving bowl. Serve with rice.
  13. Share and enjoy!

Catalog details

Useful for browsing and sync.

Main Dish, Chicken chicken pochero, chicken stew Public recipe Revision 1

Recipe notes

  • Saba bananas – Go for fruit that is mainly yellow with a scatter of black freckles because these are the sweet spots where the flesh is flavorful yet still firm. That mild firmness keeps the slices intact while frying and simmering. Skip bananas that feel mushy or are mostly black, since they tend to fall apart in the pot, and leave the green, under-ripe ones behind. They taste starchy and won’t give the dish its gentle hint of sweetness.
  • Tomato paste, not sauce – A spoonful of paste gives deep, concentrated tomato flavor and thickens the broth just enough to make it cling to the chicken and veggies. Because it adds richness without extra liquid, the stew stays soupy instead of watery. Its flavor is far more intense than regular tomato sauce, which is exactly what a slow-simmered dish like Pocherong Manok needs.