A turmeric-and-coconut braise from Muslim Mindanao: chicken or beef simmered in coconut milk gone gold with turmeric and seasoned with palapa, the Maranao scallion-and-chili condiment. Often cooked with potato, carrot and tomato, it is a festive dish set out at Maguindanao celebrations such as kalilang and kanduli.
Sinina is a festive dish of Muslim Mindanao, particularly associated with the Maguindanao, where beef, goat or chicken is simmered with vegetables, aromatics and palapa in turmeric-tinted coconut milk. It appears at communal celebrations — the kalilang and kanduli gatherings that mark weddings, name-givings and other milestones. Turmeric, coconut and palapa place it firmly within the Maranao–Maguindanao culinary world; like all Moro cooking it is prepared halal.
The sauce is a warm, sunny gold, thickened with coconut and lightly stained orange where tomato has melted in. The meat is tender and the broth tastes of turmeric's earthiness, coconut's sweetness and the scallion-ginger lift of the palapa, with a low chili warmth running underneath. Vegetables soak up the sauce; it is eaten with plenty of rice.
Frying the palapa and turmeric in oil at the start matters: turmeric's curcumin and the chili's pigments are fat-soluble, so blooming them in hot fat draws out both colour and aroma before the coconut milk goes in. As the milk reduces, its fat and proteins thicken the sauce into a creamy body, while gentle heat keeps it from splitting. Slow simmering tenderizes the meat by converting collagen to gelatin, and the root vegetables added partway through absorb the seasoned sauce.
Variations
Beef and goat are typical at large feasts, chicken for a quicker pot; the vegetables vary with what is on hand. Cooks differ on how much palapa and chili to add, and some keep the sauce thin and brothy while others reduce it thick. It sits alongside piaparan as one of the coconut-and-turmeric dishes central to Maranao and Maguindanao celebrations.
On the Palate
Where Sinina sits in the Filipino flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 5
How it's made
7 steps · 25 min
- 110 min
Cut the chicken or beef into serving pieces.
- 26 min
Saute onion, garlic and a spoonful of palapa in oil, then add turmeric and bloom briefly.
Watch outBloom the palapa and turmeric in hot oil first — their color and aroma are fat-soluble, so frying them draws both out before the coconut milk goes in.
- 35 min
Add the meat and brown it lightly in the spices.
- 45 min
Pour in coconut milk with a little water and bring to a gentle simmer.
Watch outReduce the coconut milk gently, never at a hard boil, so it thickens into a creamy body without splitting into oil and curds.
- 530 min
Add chopped tomato and simmer, partly covered, until the meat is tender.
- 615 min
Add potato and carrot and cook until soft and the sauce has thickened.
- 74 min
Season with salt, adjust the heat with more chili if wanted, and serve with rice.
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