Bisaya halang-halang recipes

Halang-halang is a Bisaya spicy coconut chicken recipe that varies by location and even household, in the Visayas. Some recipes strictly use ginger, others use sili or chilis to achieve a preferred heat. The main ingredient used in Bohol where my family is from is native chicken. These are local chickens that are smaller than commercial chickens, but run and feed freely around the home. Their meat is considered more flavorful and safer to eat by neighborhood cooks, over commercial chickens.

My own recipe is derived from my cousin Christopher, who was taught by our uncle Bebot. My recipe differs slightly, as mine is milder in spice, and I typically don’t have access to native chickens so I use store-bought instead. Also, I really love chunky vegetables in my soups, so I add those as well, and I also braise the chicken. My family also prefers to cook halang-halang over a wood fire, which allows them to cook the broth longer and cheaply with wood from the yard. The extended time makes the broth more flavorful.

I will be sharing first a version of the recipe I learned from my cousin Christopher. It might differ a bit from the original, as it’s been a few years since he taught me, and when I first began to experiment with my own version. I’ll then share my own recipe that uses additional vegetables, and can be used for pork or beef, in addition to chicken.

Feel free to share your own variations of halang-halang, whether they are based from below, or from your own family or neighborhood cook.

Halang-halang ni Tope (Christopher’s halang-halang)

Ingredients

• 1 bunch dahong sili (chili pepper leaves), stems removed. If none is available, use spinach.
• 3 stalks tanglad (lemongrass). If none is available, you can skip it, though it’s a big part of Bisaya halang-halang. Lemon juice and a teaspoon of sugar is a possible substitute.
• 2 small red onion, chopped.
• Half bulb of garlic, diced.
• 1 medium green papaya, peeled and sliced.
• 1 large atsal or red bell pepper, sliced in chunks.
• For the spicy or halang kick:
  • 4 siling labuyo (red or “Thai” chili peppers – see more about siling labuyo at the end of the post), minced.
  • 1 thumb ginger, minced.
  • Add more or less of the above to control spiciness. 1.5 labuyo is mild, 4 is spicy.
• 2 tbsp patis or fish sauce
• 1 bouillon or dehydrated broth or stock cube and MSG or “magic sarap” (optional, but adds even more flavor).
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• 1 kilo of native Bisaya chicken, chopped into pieces, bone-in. If none is available, use store-bought chicken.
• Coconut milk from 2 niyog or mature coconuts. Or 2 cans of coconut milk. About 400 ml. If you prefer your soup to be thicker, add another coconut or can of coconut milk.
• Water
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil.

Directions

1. Add chicken to large pot, add water until chicken is submerged. Heat until boiling.
2. When about half of the water has evaporated, a flavorful chicken broth is left. Remove any possible foam.
3. Add onions, garlic, ginger, and sili.
4. Add coconut milk and optional broth cube. Optional MSG or “magic sarap”.
5. Add lemongrass or lemon juice substitute, atsal, and green papaya.
6. Add patis.
7. Let simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes.
8. Add salt, pepper, and patis to taste.
9. Remove lemongrass.
10. Add dahong sili. Let cook for 5 minutes.
11. Stir, add salt, pepper, and patis to taste.
12. Serve with rice.

Halang-halang ni Alj (Albert Jr’s halang-halang)

Ingredients

• 1 large carrot, cubed
• 1 large potato, cubed
• 2 bunches dahong sili (chili pepper leaves), stems removed. If none is available, use spinach.
• 3 stalks tanglad (lemongrass). If none is available, you can skip it, though it’s a big part of Bisaya halang-halang. Lemon juice and a teaspoon of sugar is a possible substitute.
• 1 handful shitake or button mushrooms, thick slices.
• 1 green atsal or green bell pepper, cut in chunks.
• 2 large tomatoes, cut in chunks.
• 4 siling haba (green chili pepper), left whole.
• 2 siling labuyo (red or “Thai” chili peppers – see more about siling labuyo at the end of the post), minced.
• 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp patis
• 1 bouillon or dehydrated broth or stock cube
• Salt and pepper
• 2 cans coconut milk or about 400 ml.
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil.
• 4 to 5 cups water, or enough to fill three-fourths of your pot.
• Meat or protein:
  • 1 kilo pork ribs OR
  • 1 kilo chicken drumsticks and wings, minimal to no skin OR
  • Vegetarian: Add more chunks of shitake or button mushrooms in lieu of meat.
• Optional:
  • 1 thumb ginger, minced.
  • 1 gabi or taro root, cubed.

Directions

1. Marinade chicken or pork in salt, pepper, sugar, and soy sauce. Marinate either from a few minutes to 2 hours before cooking.
2. Heat pot with oil.
3. Braise or brown chosen meat until browned on both sides. Set aside.
4. In empty pot, sautee onion until glossy and fragrant.
5. Add garlic, ginger, and sili. Sautee for 2 minutes.
6. Add the carrot, potato, green pepper, half of the tomato chunks, and half of the mushrooms.
7. Add salt, hoisin, soy sauce, patis.
8. Sautee vegetables for 5 minutes.
9. Add the 1 stock cube, and let it melt.
10. Stir vegetables in with the melted stock cube.
11. Add braised meat, and remaining mushrooms.
12. Add coconut milk, add water and bring level no more than 3/4ths of your pot.
13. Change heat to low, and let simmer for 15 min.
14. Remove lemongrass.
15. Add remaining tomatoes, dahong sili, and siling haba.
16. Simmer for last 10 min.
17. Stir, add salt, pepper, and patis to taste.
18. Serve with rice.

Feel at home with halang-halang

Native neighborhood chickens are favored in Bohol, but wherever you are, feel free to work with what is available. Substitute the chicken and pork with mushrooms, tofu, or another plant-based protein for a healthier and heart-warming pot. 

You can also use large chunks of fish like cod, haddock, salmon, or pompano, but you would throw that in last with the dahong sili or spinach. You would then let simmer for 15 minutes after that, giving you a spicy coconut fish soup.

If you live in Luzon and are familiar with existing chicken or coconut recipes, you can make slight changes to your own dishes to make your version of halang-halang. If you already have a tinola recipe, try adding diced siling labuyo (red “Thai” chili peppers), coconut milk, and tanglad or lemongrass.

If you’re familiar with ginataang kalabasa or sauteed coconut squash, make it a spicy veggie halang-halang-inspired soup by adding tanglad, sili, luya or ginger, and more coconut milk.

Spicy coconut dishes are not only common in the Philippines (like Gising-gising & Bikol express), but with our Southeast Asia neighbors including Thailand’s Tom kha gai – Thai coconut chicken soup made with local spices and cilantro.

Halang-halang’s key ingredient: siling labuyo

Some Bolanon households strictly use ginger or luya as the main spice, others use both luya and sili. My cousin Christoper and my Uncle Bebot love spice, so siling labuyo is the main kick in their recipe.

Siling labuyo in the Philippines is commonly referred to small red chili peppers sold in markets and stores, but in actuality, it refers to a specific naturalized species of chili peppers found in the Philippines.

The most common “siling labuyo” I’ve seen in markets are actually bird’s eye chilis said to be from Taiwan, also called Thai peppers. They can grow up to 2 inches long.

The Philippine “native” siling labuyo however are smaller and often stubbier, and also hotter! Here is a photo of different Philippine chili peppers with descriptions by John Sherwin Felix.

The term “labuyo” is also used for a species of chicken in the Philippines, the red jungle fowl or Gallus gallus philippensis. Traditionally labuyo chickens are not only eaten, but also fought in cockfights, and used to this day in ceremonial rituals and feasts by both lowland and Indigenous Filipino communities.

Eitherway, chili peppers in the Philippines were brought over during Spanish colonization and via trade with the rest of Asia. Sili has now naturalized in the country, many growing around homes and neighborhoods. The smaller, “original” siling labuyo might have been brought over from Mexico, derived from the pequin pepper.

Go “sili” with your own recipe

Hope you enjoy our halang-halang, and that you make your own. If you have your own recipe either passed down or brand new, do share and let me know! I’d like to give it a try.

More recipes

• Pancit canton
• Silog or Filipino breakfasts
• Air fried danggit or dried rabbitfish
• Katmon vegetable sinigang

Halang-halang art

I love halang-halang so much I made art about it. You can download a printable of it on my Filipino Food Art Etsy shop.