Chicken Adobo

I love exploring different foods from around the world. I met a lovely lady from Philippines a couple of weeks back at work. We instantly got connected. We both are foodie and shared good sense of humor. She is great cook and introduced me to delicious chicken adobo which is national dish of Philippines. Tender chicken braised in a rich, savory, tangy, slightly sweet sauce consisting of soy sauce, apple cider vinegar and brown sugar and a little spicy kick of freshly crushed peppercorns. It was so good. The depth of flavor was incredibly satisfying.

I had to recreate the dish a few days later. My first attempt adding ginger as an extra layer of flavor, but the it tasted typical Asian taste. In my second attempt I excluded ginger resulting in a flavor profile pretty much close to my friend’s version. I shared with her and she loved my rendition!  It was so rewarding. The fluffy rice and refreshing cucumber-onion salad made it perfect. 

This recipe is super easy recipe. The important thing is marinating for at least a couple of hours, but overnight is even better. No fancy ingredients needed, just simple pantry staples. Traditional recipe uses cane vinegar, but apple cider vinegar or even plain white vinegar works just as well. Here's my take on. 

Ingredients ~
3 lb. bone in, skin on chicken thighs and legs
1/2 cup dark soy sauce
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
1/2 cup onion julienne
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup oil

1 bay leaves
1/2 cup water

Method~
Remove extra fat from thigh pieces. Mix together soy sauce and apple cider vinegar then pour over chicken. Marinate for a couple of hours at least or overnight. Pat dry chicken pieces and reserve the sauce.

Heat 1/2 oil in a pan over medium high heat and sear chicken pieces two minutes each side. Wipe out the pan and add remaining half oil . Stir fry onions and minced garlic for a few minutes; then pour reserved sauce, brown sugar, crushed pepper and water. Bring it to the boil and place chicken, and bay leaves in sauce mixture. Cover and cook for 20 minutes. Flip the chicken pieces half way through. Take out chicken pieces of the pan and let the sauce simmer little bit to thicken to desired consistency. Adjust seasonings as needed. add more soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, or pepper as per liking. Sprinkle some chopped scallions. Serve with plain steamed rice and add a refreshing cucumber onion salad on the side to complete the meal. Enjoy!

Happy Cooking!