Nothing tastes more nostalgic than a hearty helping of hardbody chicken, says Soweto’s foodie Mpho Nogueira. This protein-loaded poultry meal sparks up fond memories of her grandmother, Julia Mokoena.
Nogueira’s zany cooking instructions and colourful meal descriptions are refreshing. This foodie is known for preparing meals she holds dear to her heart, like her scrumptious hardbody (hand-raised) chicken, or “Petronella” as she so fondly calls it. Her recipe is a modern rendition of the chicken her grandmother used to prepare for her in Soweto.
Umleqwa or hardbody chicken is a staple in the homes of many South Africans, and Nogueira adds a simple yet spicy element to her grandmother’s “Petronella”.
Their free-range living is what gives hardbody chicken an extra layer of flavour that sets it apart from your regular store-bought chicken. All that’s left is for you to unlock the delicious rich chicken flavour with the right cooking method for scrumptious, falling off the bone goodness.
Find inspiration in nostalgia
Nogueira recalls how her grandmother loved to cook up a storm in the kitchen. She says that Mokoena used to work as a domestic worker and would go home and try out whatever recipes she learned from the people she worked for.
“My grandmother was definitely my inspiration, but funnily enough at the time, I didn’t really care about food. I didn’t even think that I was ever going to cook or anything like that,” says Nogueira.
She is making massive waves on social media with a staggering following of more than 200 000 through her business, Nogueira’s Home Cooking. Her hearty dishes first made appearances on social feeds in 2016 and have since grabbed the attention of the chicken brand, Grain Fields Chicken.
Give her spicy Petronella a try!
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Ingredients
- 1 whole hand-raised chicken
- 1 tbsp sea salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
- 1 tsp paprika
Instructions
- Boil the whole chicken for about an hour with salt only, then set aside in a different bowl.
- In the same pot, use the fat from the chicken to braise the meat adding the paprika, cayenne and black pepper and fry your chicken until it is golden brown.
