Piaparan A Manok (Chicken Piaparan)

July 25, 2014

Piaparan A Manok (Chicken Piaparan) is a chicken dish that is cooked with coconut milk, turmeric and a special paste called ‘Palapa’. The cooked chicken is taken out from the soup and then cooked with additional grated coconut which makes this dish really stand out. This is perfect with white rice.

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE RECIPE VIDEO.

Back in the day, this dish was usually prepared during Eid.

There are three main dishes that were always present in our home during Eid – Mom’s Filipino Beefsteak (which I still haven’t figured out how to cook it), Kiyalawagan A Karne (a beef dish very similar to this one) and Piaparan A Manok (Chicken Piaparan).

If I am translating it correctly, Piaparan is a term means ‘with papar‘. Chicken Piaparan then translates to Chicken with Papar. Papar is the coconut part of the dish – not the coconut to be squeezed but the coconut part cooked during the last step of the dish.

To make this, you have to make the palapa, the soup + chicken, and the papar.

Palapa (click here to see what it looks like) is a paste used by Maranao people in the Philippines. It is made by grinding sakurab or lansuna, ginger, and chilies. I will make a post about it when I’ve managed to get myself ‘real’ sakurab. I think it deserves a separate post. 🙂 Moving on, the second step is to cook the soup with the chicken. It is mostly sauteeing and adding FRESH coconut milk and cream. The last step is making the papar which is also sauteeing and ‘cooking’ the freshly shredded coconut.

I grew up with this dish and cooked this with my Mom multiple times, but I haven’t tried making this all by myself – not even when my Mom was still alive. Since she passed away, I have never eaten this dish. I always miss this dish every single day, but maybe I was just too scared to try – scared not to get it right or maybe scared to feel empty again.

The only challenging thing was finding the right thing to substitute one of the crucial ingredients – palapa. Glady, I’ve thought of using the white part of spring onions and worked perfectly, too. The taste of the palapa itself is not that ‘authentic’ but it works as a great substitute.

The recipe for Chicken Piaparan varies from family to family. This is how my family makes it and we wouldn’t want to change anything.

In this recipe, we use freshly grated coconut to make coconut cream and coconut milk. I haven’t tried using canned coconut milk and/or coconut cream, or the coconut milk powder. There is no way I would recommend that.

This is an updated version of the recipe, plus I’ve shared a recipe video on my YouTube Channel (linked above). I am taking this updated version at Fiesta Friday #289.

Print

Chicken Piaparan

This is a chicken dish that is cooked with coconut milk, turmeric and a special paste called ‘Palapa’. The cooked chicken is taken out from the soup and then cooked with additional grated coconut which makes this dish really stand out. This is perfect with white rice.
Cuisine Filipino
Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 5
Author Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook

Ingredients

For the Palapa:

  • ½ cup white part of spring onion sliced
  • ¼ cup chopped ginger
  • 1-2 bird’s eye chili

Other ingredients:

  • 500 g chicken cut into pieces (washed, skins removed)
  • 1 + 1 medium onion sliced
  • 3 + 3 cloves garlic crushed
  • 1 + 1 medium tomatoes sliced
  • Bell pepper sliced
  • Green part of spring onion
  • 1-2 + 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
  • 3 + 1 cups grated coconut
  • 375 + 500 ml water
  • Salt to taste
  • Cooking oil

Instructions

For the palapa:

  1. Put the ingredients for palapa in a food processor and pulse for 1 or 2 seconds. (Not too long, you just want to grind them.) You can also use mortar and pestle for this or you can put them in a ziplock bag and pound. Set aside.

Make the coconut cream and milk:

  1. Prepare 3 bowls and strainer.

    Bowl 1: put 3 cups of grated coconut and 375 ml water. Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze until you get a very beautiful coconut cream.

    Proceed to bowl 2:

    Bowl 2: top with the strainer, pour the contents from bowl 1 and squeeze until all liquid has been squeezed out. Set aside. Take note to save the used grated coconut. (This is coconut cream - thicker one)

    Now, you have the used grated coconut. Go back to Bowl 1 and put the used grated coconut and add 500 ml water and again, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze… 

    Proceed to bowl 3:

    Bowl 3: top with the strainer, pour the contents from bowl 1 and squeeze until all liquid has been squeezed out. (This is coconut milk - the thinner one)

  2. Now, you can throw the used grated coconut.

    Clearly, you have the coconut cream and milk in separate bowls. Set them aside.

To cook the chicken piaparan:

  1. In a pot over medium-high heat, add cooking oil. Sauté half of the garlic, onion, bell pepper, and tomatoes. Add half of the palapa mixture.

  2. Add in chicken pieces, cover and cook for 5 minutes, making sure to check them to prevent burning.

  3. Add turmeric powder, making sure to save some for later in case you need it) and the coconut milk from bowl 3. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.

  4. Add the coconut cream from bowl 2 and let it boil.

  5. Turn off the heat. Add spring onions and salt.

  6. In a skillet or deep frying pan over a medium-heat, add oil. Sauté the remaining garlic, onion, bell peppers, and tomatoes. Add the remaining palapa.

  7. Add the remaining 1 cup freshly grated coconut (remember that you have 3 + 1 cups – you squeezed 3 cups and you have the remaining 1 cup). Add turmeric powder and salt, then mix until even in color. Remove the chicken from the soup and add to the skillet. Add about ¼ cup of the soup. Mix well and cook for another minute or until it gets almost dry. Add spring onions. Turn off the heat and transfer to a serving plate and the soup in a separate bowl.

  8. Serve with white rice.

Recipe Notes

PLEASE CHECK OUT THE RECIPE VIDEO LINKED ABOVE.

thenotsocreativecook-ChickenPiaparan4
old blog photo – the first time I made Chicken Piaparan

The time I was cooking this, I had tears in my eyes – I really missed my Mom. And when I get to finally eat this together with rice, I missed her more. It tasted exactly the same with my Mom’s and I was really more than happy that I finally made this after all those years.

Thanks a bunch for spending your precious time with me!

I am also sharing this tasty dish at

Happiness is Homemade | What’s for Dinner? Sunday link up #214 | Mix it up Monday | Melt in your Mouth Monday Recipe Blog Hop #424 | Cook Blog Share | Full Plate Thursday,446 |

Thank you for the feature!!

Fiesta Friday #290 | What’s for Dinner? Sunday link up #215 |

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