Chicken Inasal

One of the favorite Filipino comfort dishes is chicken inasal. It refers to chicken marinated in calamansi, vinegar, pepper, and achuete before grilling over charcoal and basting with the marinade. Chicken inasal originated in Bacolod City in the western Visayas region, but it has now spread throughout the Philippines.

Consider chicken inasal to be a variation on lechon manok. Inasal, on the other hand, is sliced into pieces and impaled on bamboo sticks before being grilled, as opposed to lechon manok, which is spit-roasted whole. When served in a restaurant, you can order it by part – for example, paa (thigh), pecho (breast), pak-pak (wings), or isol (leg) (butts).

Chicken inasal is typically served with white rice with a dipping sauce of vinegar, soy sauce, chili pepper, and calamansi. A bottle of chicken oil, which you can pour over your rice and/or incorporate into your dipping sauce, should be available at every table in a good inasal restaurant.