Tinga de Pollo

This COVID quarantine has been difficult and we've been shoving food and beer in our faces like there's no tomorrow, trying to find some comfort. Unfortunately, it is showing and we have to pay the piper. We're officially trying to shed some of the excess blubber before cool weather hits and we are tied indoors for the rainy season. That means that we are trying to make really smart decisions not only about what we are eating, but about portion size.

I'm no fan of chicken breast, but it is a decent high-quality, low-fat protein and Ann likes it or is perhaps more willing to put up with it. I almost would rather not eat than eat chicken breast. One of the ways that I can make this boring cut of meat appeal to me is to smother it in tinga sauce, as tinga de pollo.

Tinga is one of those fundamental Mexican sauces that everyone should know, first because it is so tasty and second because it is so easy to make.

Tinga de Pollo

Tinga de pollo is pretty versatile in that you can use it in many ways: for tacos, enchiladas, tostadas, burritos, and casseroles. This batch is headed for our freezer for meals later in the year. Both tinga and tinga sauce freeze well.

Poached Chicken Breast

To make tinga de pollo, you need shredded chicken, cooked onions, and tinga sauce. How you cook the chicken is up to you. I decided to poach it because Ann wanted some chicken to be cubed for chicken salad. I poached the chicken breasts in water with a little salt, a bay leaf, a sprig of thyme, and a lovage leaf. The slight bit of orange you see in the broth is from when I cleaned some chipotle adobo off of a spoon by swirling it around in the chicken. The resulting chicken stock was so delicious (lovage is magic) that I cooked a pound of lentils in it for dinner.

Shredded Chicken Breast

Two Large Onions Ready to Roast

Ordinarily, when I am making tinga de pollo, I roast the onions under chicken thighs in the oven for maximum flavor. I did not this time in an effort to reduce the fat content. This time I placed the sliced onions, tossed with salt, pepper, and Mexican oregano, in a pan, covered it with foil, and put it in the oven for a half an hour. The onions have plenty of moisture to steam themselves.

Tinga Sauce

Tinga sauce is so easy to make. I mixed half the roasted onions with the shredded chicken and put the other half in the blender along with two 28-ounce cans of diced tomatoes in juice, four chipotles, two big spoons of chipotle adobo, and some salt. After smoothing this out in the blender, I dressed the chicken with some sauce and we put the remaining sauce in the refrigerator to use as salsa on our tacos.

Often after blending, I will recook the sauce in a hot skillet with a bit of oil. This helps the sauce come together. I didn't do it this time to keep the sauce fat free.

I often will have a bit of garlic in my tinga sauce and a bit of cumin. Usually I dust the chicken lightly with cumin or a spice rub before cooking and usually I roast some garlic cloves along with the onions. I did neither in this case. Tinga sauce is flexible and you can flavor it as you desire, but at heart, it is a tomato-chipotle sauce.

If I have to eat boring chicken breast, tinga sauce turns it into something that I actually want to eat and that's a win.