Thursday, January 13, 2011

Filipino Adobo

This NYT article inspired me to make chicken adobo--one of my favorite filipino dishes that is supposedly very easy to make but takes a lot of experimentation to optimize it to your liking.  Every cook's adobo tastes different from others; even my mom and dad's versions taste different.
The recipe in the NYT article calls for broiling the chicken after it's been cooking in the liquid for 30 minutes.  This caramelizes the sauce which doesn't make the chicken and its skin much more crispy, but it does give the chicken a yummy glazed look.  This version of adobo also has coconut milk, which I omitted from my recipe for health reasons.  The following recipe describes how I made my last chicken adobo.  I gave it a version number because it'll change only for the better!

Recipe for Chicken Adobo Version 1
  • 4 chicken thighs and 4 chicken legs:  skins removed on half the pieces
  • 1/3 cup light soy sauce
  • 1 1/3 cup rice vinegar
  • 1 cup 7-up
  • 12 garlic cloves
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 1 tsp peppercorns
  1. Put all the ingredients in a freezer bag and marinate the chicken for 2 hours.
  2. Place the chicken and sauce in a deep saute pan, cover the pan, and heat it until the liquid boils.
  3. Turn down the heat so the liquid simmers.
  4. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes.  Turn the chicken every 10 minutes.
  5. Remove the chicken and place on a broiler pan.  
  6. Turn the heat up on the sauce until it bubbles to allow the sauce to thicken.
  7. Meanwhile, baste and broil the chicken for ~5 minutes on each side until it has caramelized.
  8. After broiling the chicken pieces, place it in a serving dish.
  9. Optionally, remove the basil leaves and peppercorns from the thickened sauce.
  10. Poor the sauce over the chicken.
I want to know:  how do you make chicken adobo?  For example, do you prefer a specific brand or type of soy sauce and vinegar?  What's your ratio of soy sauce to vinegar?  Do you use sugar?  Do you have a healthy version?  Please share!
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2 comments:

  1. Mary RoseJanuary 14, 2011 at 4:59 AM

    Great posting!
    I use chicken breasts for my adobo (Ollie's preference). I marinate in equal parts of olive oil, lite soy sauce, and water; garlic cloves, pepper, and bay leaves. When I'm ready to cook, I brown the chicken then add the marinate to the chicken. I add the vinegar at the latter part and leave it at a slow simmer. Can't let vinegar boil, otherwise it will taste bitter. If it's too salty, I add a little bit of brown sugar to add some sweetness. Occasionally, I add a hard boiled egg just like the parents. Serve w/ freshly cooked brown rice. Max and Ollie LOVE it!

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  2. MarionJanuary 15, 2011 at 12:18 PM

    I followed version 1 but added 1 tbs of honey or 2 :) for sweetness. sprinkled crushed red peppers for spicyness. FYI, 6 packets of soy sauce from Chinese takeout is equivalent to 1/3 cup.
    Marinated overnight.
    To cook, I added just enough water to the chicken and sauce to cover chicken.
    While chicken was broiling in oven, I cooked a dozen eggs in sauce. This is the best way to boil eggs! Peeling is so easy.(I think the sodium from soy sauce contributes to that)
    Kids loved the sauce, and prefer to eat it with a bowl of white rice.

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