Puebla · 60 min · Meat · Main course · For beginners
Tinga de Pollo
In German: Hähnchen-Tinga · In English: Chicken Tinga
For 4 servings · US units
Shredded chicken in a smoky chipotle-tomato sauce with soft, silky onions
Tinga comes from Puebla, and these days it's cooked all over Mexico in countless variations. The chicken is gently poached, pulled into shreds and simmered in a smoky, spicy sauce of tomatoes and chipotles until it's properly juicy. It's at its best piled onto crisp tostadas or tucked into warm corn tortillas, with avocado, crumbled queso fresco and a spoonful of crema.
Ingredients
- 1⅓ lbchicken breastskinless, boneless; cooked and shredded
- 4¼ cupswaterfor poaching the chicken, enough to cover
- 4tomatoesripe, ideally Roma; roasted or simmered until soft
- 2oniona piece for the poaching liquid, the rest thinly sliced
- 3 clovesgarlicfor the poaching liquid and the sauce
- 3adjust to desired heatSmoked, dried jalapeños packed in a dark, sweet-sour sauce of tomato, vinegar and spices, smoky and properly hot.Substitute: Dried chipotles, soaked and blended with a little tomato paste and a splash of vinegar, come closest; at a pinch, smoked paprika and a little cayenne with tomato paste give smoke and heat, but not the fleshy texture or the sweet-sour depth of the sauce.Read more
- 1 tbspfrom the chipotle can, for extra depth and heat (optional)A spicy, smoky and tangy red sauce of dried chiles, vinegar, garlic and spices, usually the sauce from canned chipotles en adobo.Substitute: Tomato paste with a little white wine vinegar, garlic, a pinch of sugar and chipotle powder comes close; without chipotle powder, smoked paprika with some chili supplies the smoke but not the fruity depth of dried chiles, and the result tastes flatter.Read more
- ¾ cupchicken broththe chicken poaching liquid; for the sauce and to loosen
- 2bay leaffor the poaching liquid
- 1 tspOreganoMexican oregano if possible
- ½ tspcuminfor the sauce
- 2 tbspoilor olive oil; for sweating the onions
- saltfor the poaching liquid and the sauce
- black pepperfreshly ground
- 12warmed or as tostadas for servingThin flatbreads made from nixtamalized corn dough, with a gently earthy corn flavour.Substitute: Homemade ones from masa harina are just as good, whereas ordinary cornmeal or polenta won't bind into a dough. Wheat tortillas work for filling but taste blander, are softer and don't crisp the same way when fried.Read more
- 2avocadosliced or diced for serving
- 3½ ozor cotija, crumbled for servingYoung, unripened Mexican cow's-milk cheese – white, moist, crumbly, mild and lightly salty.Substitute: Mild feta, soaked in cold water for an hour to draw out salt, comes closest in texture and in how it behaves when heated, though it stays somewhat saltier and sharper. A mix of feta and well-drained ricotta is milder and fresher but softer and less crumbly. Ricotta salata or crumbly paneer also work, although paneer is firmer and barely salty.Read more
- ½ cupfor serving (optional)Mexican cultured cream, thinner and milder than sour cream, with a gently tangy note.Substitute: Crème fraîche thinned with a little milk or lime juice comes closest and also tolerates heat; sour cream is tangier and leaner and is more likely to curdle in hot sauces.Read more
- 1 bunchchopped for serving (optional)The fresh leaves of the coriander plant, with a bright, citrusy and slightly peppery taste.Substitute: There is no true substitute. Flat-leaf parsley, perhaps with a little lime zest, adds colour and green freshness but not cilantro's distinctive citrusy note.Read more
Method
- Poach the chickenPut the chicken breast in a pot and pour in enough water to cover it well. Add the piece of onion, some of the garlic, the bay leaves and a good pinch of salt, bring to a boil, then poach the chicken gently for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Shred chicken, save the liquidLift out the chicken. Remove the bay leaves and the onion piece from the poaching liquid (or strain it), then save the liquid. Whatever you do, don't pour it away: it goes into your sauce. Let the chicken cool for a few minutes and pull it into fine shreds with two forks.
- Roast the tomatoesRoast the tomatoes on a comal or under the broiler until they're soft. Or, if you'd rather, simply simmer them in the poaching liquid until tender.
- Blend the chipotle sauceBlend the tomatoes with the chipotles in adobo, the rest of the garlic, the oregano, cumin, a little salt and a splash of the poaching liquid until smooth. If you like more depth and heat, add some adobo sauce from the can. Keep the sauce on the thick side rather than thin.
- Soften the onionsSlice the onions into thin strips and cook them in the oil over medium heat until translucent and nicely soft.
- Cook down the saucePour the sauce over the onions and let it cook down for 5 to 10 minutes, until it turns darker and thicker.
- Simmer chicken in the sauceFold in the shredded chicken and let everything simmer gently for 5 to 12 minutes. If the tinga looks dry, add a little more poaching liquid; if it's too loose, keep reducing it a bit longer.
- Season the tingaSeason with salt, freshly ground black pepper and, if you want more kick, an extra chipotle.
- Assemble and serveSpoon the tinga onto tostadas or into warm corn tortillas and serve with avocado, crumbled queso fresco or cotija, crema and chopped cilantro.
Tips and variations
Swap the breast for chicken thighs and the meat stays especially juicy. For a brighter tang, add some tomatillos to the sauce along with the tomatoes, and a pinch of dried thyme works nicely too. If you'd rather the onion disappear, cook it along with everything else and blend it into the sauce instead of leaving it in strips in the tinga. Instead of poaching, you can also brine the chicken and roast it in the oven together with the tomatoes. When you're short on time, canned tomato sauce and a stock cube will do the job. Tinga works just as well with beef, pork or sardines, goes vegetarian with mushrooms or carrots, or gets chorizo and potato stirred into the sauce. Leftovers make a wonderful filling for quesadillas, tacos or molotes.
Allergens
Contains: Cereals containing gluten, Milk (including lactose)
Not every ingredient in this recipe has been checked, so nothing is promised as free from.
These notes follow from this recipe's ingredient list. Ready-made products and brands may contain further allergens — please check the packaging yourself.
Something not right?
This recipe was put together from independent sources and checked before publishing. Even so, a mistake can slip through — an amount that does not add up, a step that does not work as written. If you spot something, write to us: we will look into it and put it right.
