P
Mexican
Tinga de pollo (chipotle shredded chicken)
Tinga is a shredded chicken preparation in a chipotle-tomato sauce — one of Mexico's most versatile and popular taco and tostada fillings. Chicken is poached, shredded, and combined with a sauce of sautéed white onion, tomato, and chipotle in adobo. The chipotle provides smokiness and heat; the tomato provides body; the onion provides sweetness. Tinga is a quick, everyday preparation — 30 minutes from start to finish, using accessible ingredients.
‹Swipe for the next dish›
I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
For poaching
600 g
bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces
thighs and breasts preferred
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 litre
water or light chicken stock
enough to submerge chicken
Your own market
1 tsp
fine salt
Your own market
For the sauce
2 tbsp
neutral oil
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 large
white onion
halved and thinly sliced
Your own market
400 g
ripe tomatoes
roughly chopped; or tinned whole tomatoes, drained
Origin · ItalyBosa Foods · Vancouver →
2
chipotles in adobo
plus 1 tsp of the adobo sauce from the tin
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tsp
fine salt
adjust to taste
Your own market
To serve
12
small corn tortillas or tostadas
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1
avocado
sliced
Your own market
100 ml
Mexican crema or soured cream
Your own market
80 g
queso fresco
crumbled
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Place the chicken pieces in a saucepan with the water or stock and salt. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat and poach for 20 minutes, or until the meat is cooked through and yields without resistance when pressed. Remove the chicken and reserve the poaching liquid. When cool enough to handle but still warm, shred the meat by hand into fine, even strips — the chicken is ready when it pulls apart cleanly along the grain.
2
Heat the oil in a wide sauté pan over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6 to 8 minutes until fully translucent and beginning to soften at the edges — no trace of raw, sharp aroma should remain.
3
Add the chopped tomato and the chipotles in adobo along with the adobo sauce. Cook over medium heat, breaking down the tomatoes and chipotles with a spoon, for 5 to 7 minutes until the mixture has collapsed into a rough, cohesive sauce. Taste: the chipotle smoke should be present but balanced — add a third chipotle only if the heat and smokiness are insufficient. This is the step where the dish lives or dies: too little reduction leaves a watery sauce that will not coat the chicken; too much chipotle obscures everything beneath it.
From the canon — Adobo sauce is one of the most versatile pantry preparations in Mexican cooking — a dark, smoky, mildly spiced paste made from reconstituted dried chillies (… Adobo Sauce →
4
Add the shredded chicken to the sauce along with 60 to 80 ml of the reserved poaching liquid. Stir to combine and simmer over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes, reducing until the sauce clings to the shreds and no liquid pools at the base of the pan — the surface of the tinga should appear glossy rather than wet.
5
Season with salt, stir once more, and serve immediately on warm tortillas or tostadas, topped with avocado, crema, and crumbled queso fresco.
From the canon — Tostadas are corn tortillas fried in oil or baked until completely crisp and dry. Tostadas (fried or baked crisp tortilla base) →
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Free-range or heritage-breed chicken, poached in a well-seasoned homemade stock; dried, rehydrated morita or chipotle chillies toasted and blended in place of tinned chipotles; hand-pressed masa tortillas made to order.
02
Estate — Good-quality free-range chicken thighs, poached in lightly salted water with aromatics; tinned chipotles in adobo from a reliable Mexican brand; fresh corn tortillas purchased from a tortillería.
03
Market — Standard supermarket chicken thighs; tinned chipotles in adobo; packaged corn tortillas warmed in a dry pan. Competent and honest.
04
House — Any available chicken pieces; canned tomatoes; a modest amount of chipotle. The dish remains recognisable and satisfying even at its most economical — this is its particular virtue.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Touch. Warm shredded chicken pulls apart in fine, even strips along the grain without tearing coarsely.
◇Smell. Sautéed onion loses its raw, sharp edge and settles into a sweet, soft aroma before the tomato is added.
◇Sight. Finished tinga is glossy, not wet; the sauce clings to each shred and does not pool at the base of the pan.
◇Taste. Chipotle smoke is clearly present but does not overwhelm the tomato and chicken; a second taste confirms salt balance before serving.
◇Where it lives or dies. The sauce must reduce to a coating consistency and the chipotle must be tasted and calibrated before the chicken is added — an under-reduced or over-smoked sauce cannot be corrected once the dish is assembled.
Pillar V
Cross-cuisine parallels are part of membership.
The dishes this one teaches you, across the cuisines — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year
VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Agave spirit
From British Columbia
Nothing from British Columbia holds against this yet.
Without alcohol
No pour without alcohol holds against this yet.
Why each one works is part of membership — Enter · from $49 a year →
The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year