Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner
Inasal na manok ranks fifth in TasteAtlas's best chicken dishes
Winner, winner, chicken dinner! An international aggregated food guide named inasal na manok as one of the best chicken dishes in the world.
Inasal na manok, the unique grilled chicken that originated in Bacolod and is considered as the Visayas region's signature dish, ranked fifth in TasteAtlas's Top 50 list posted on Friday, Oct. 14. It got a score of 4.6 out of 5, based on user reviews.
The dish primarily uses leg quarters (paa), if not breast quarters (pitso). The marinade consists of coconut vinegar (tuba), calamansi, tanglad (lemongrass), garlic, and ginger.
The meats are then skewered and chargrilled ("inasal"), during which it's basted with annatto-infused chicken oil that gives it an appetizing golden color and additional umami.
Inasal na manok is usually served with rice (whether fried with garlic or topped with toasted garlic), more chicken oil, and sinamak (spiced vinegar). Those in the metro, however, usually opt for toyomansi as sawsawan.
Other "inasal" items in Visayas include pork and laman-loob commonly found in the metro, as well as the uncommon bread.
Topping TasteAtlas's list was Peru's Pollo a la brasa (4.9 out of 5), a charcoal-grilled chicken often marinated with vinegar, salt, pepper, rosemary, chili, and dark beer. The website noted that it's traditionally served with French fries and salads.
TasteAtlas has recognized Philippine cuisine several times.
Last September, it named lumpiang shanghai as among the world's best street food. In the same month, it also named five varieties of Filipino pancit as among the best noodle dishes in the world.
The Philippines also placed 19th in TasteAtlas's list of 50 best cuisines worldwide for the month of June.
The country's best-rated dishes on TasteAtlas include lumpiang shanghai, tortang talong, sinigang, inasal na manok, and daing na bangus.
