Chicken tinola is a Filipino household staple; it should be one of the first things you try when learning how to cook Pinoy food. It’s the equivalent of American chicken soup, but in a clear, gingery broth. It’s very easy to make, using simple ingredients that are conveniently available in supermarkets. That said, there are still a lot of Filipinos who don’t like chicken tinola. To them, it’s flavorless, watery chicken soup. Well, these people have obviously not had good tinola. The simple soup should be clean and gingery, with a detectable savoriness that you get from chicken broth. That said, we get why people end up with lifeless tinola.

Although it is a simple recipe, there are mistakes that you can make that will end you up with tasteless, scrummy soup. So Pepper.ph, a cooking resource in the Philippines that teaches people how to make Pinoy recipes, developed this recipe to get you the best chicken tinola—one that has a clear soup and a clean but well-balanced flavor, where you can taste the chicken and all the other ingredients that make up the soup.

Chicken tinola (tinolang manok) is a simple Filipino chicken soup flavored with aromatics. It’s very straightforward to make; most of it is hands-off. You just boil the chicken and the aromatics, add the papaya, sayote, or malunggay, then serve once everything’s cooked. Unless already added while cooking, tinola is often served with a sauce made with patis. You can eat it as is, but most households enjoy it with rice.

As far as Pinoy cooking goes, chicken tinola is one of the easiest Pinoy recipes to make. But in its simplicity lies some mistakes that might end you up with tasteless, cloudy soup.

There are three key things that you need to do to make the best chicken tinola: use a whole chicken to build the broth, make a clear soup by removing scum, and use sayote (chayote) instead of papaya. These are exactly what Pepper.ph teaches you to do in their best chicken tinola recipe.

To make this Pinoy food, add a cut whole chicken and some aromatics (red onion, garlic, and ginger). Cover this with two liters of water, then bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once it starts boiling, bring the heat down to a simmer and let it do its thing for 30 minutes. While the chicken is simmering, skim any scum or build-up on the surface of the soup. This helps you achieve that clear liquid.

After 30 minutes, bring the soup back to a boil then add the prepared sayote. You’ll have to prepare it beforehand by milking it; Pepper.ph also has a guide on how to do it on their website. Cook the soup for 10 to 15 minutes more until the sayote has softened.

Turn the heat off then add a bouillon cube and dahon ng sili to finish. Keep stirring until the cube has dissolved and the leaves have wilted. Serve the soup hot with a serving of rice.