Pepitoria

One of the unique sauces you will ever encounter in a dish, a delicious dish that has been long forgotten and now rare to find in Pinoy dining tables.  Pepitoria is a Filipino dish inspired by the Spanish made with chicken cooked in a creamy sauce made chicken liver, cooked egg yolks and pine nuts.

I love searching for old forgotten Filipino dishes, the satisfaction in finding and learning about them at the same time reviving them for the world to see the wonders of Filipino cuisine is what makes this blog thriving. I know there are tons to be discovered and I barely had scratched the surface, but we already shared a lot of these vintage or heirloom Filipino recipes before but it’s not yet enough, I will continue searching for these and carry on sharing them to you. One of the latest recipes that I uncovered was this Chicken dish that was inspired by the same name Spanish dish, the Pepitoria.

A classic in Spanish cuisine the chicken pepitoria is a dish where chicken, turkey, quail, partridge, or pheasant is cooked in an almond, saffron and egg yolk sauce. This Spanish dish is still widely cooked around Spain, but the Filipino version is exceedingly rare to be found in the Philippines anymore. There are actually two Filipino versions for it, first is almost similar to the Spanish ones with the addition of chicken liver and a replacement for the almonds, and another one found in Leyte cooked with chicken blood and coconut milk. Both versions have almost a similar profile, a bit of iron taste but mellowed down with some creamy flavours. Today we are preparing the first version as we don’t have access to chicken blood here in New Zealand.

The recipe below is a recreation from many stories I heard mixed together with the knowledge of the Spanish recipe, so I am not claiming that this is the original recipe but all of the elements I gathered from my research tells me that this is close as I can get. If by any change you stumbled upon this page and know the real recipe, please let us know so we can recreate it the correct way and share it to the world.

Pepitoria

★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews

• Author: Raymund
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins
• Total Time: 1 hour
• Category: Main Course
• Cuisine: Filipino

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Description

Pepitoria is a Filipino dish inspired by the Spanish made with chicken cooked in a creamy sauce made chicken liver, cooked egg yolks and pine nuts.

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

Chicken

• 1 kg chicken thighs, bone in and skin on
• 1 large white onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 4 cloves garlic , minced
• 2 pcs hard boiled eggs whites, chopped
• 2 pcs bay leaf
• 1 tsp safflower (kasubha)
• oil
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• juice from 1/2 lemon

Sauce

• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1 chicken liver
• 2 pcs hard boiled eggs yolks
• 1 slice of white bread or equivalent in breadcrumbs
• 2 tbsp pine nuts, slightly roasted

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Instructions

1. Season chicken thighs and chicken liver with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Set it aside.
2. In a large pan heat oil over high heat then brown chicken pieces on all sides. Remove chicken from the pan then set it aside.
3. Using the same pan, add the chicken liver, brown it in all sides. Remove chicken liver from the pan then set it aside.
4. Add oil if needed, then sauté garlic and onions in low heat, once onions are caramelised and soft add the chicken back. Pour the chicken stock, add the bay leaf, cover the pan then gently simmer for 25 minutes.
5. While chicken is simmering, in a blender combine all sauce ingredients together with the browned chicken liver, pulse to make gravy.
6. Pour gravy onto the pan, add the safflower then continue to simmer for 10 more minutes or until sauce is thick.
7. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, mix in the lemon juice, place in serving platters then garnish with chopped egg whites.

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