Chicken Adobo

Chicken Adobo is a Filipino chicken dish made by braising chicken pieces in a stew made with soy sauce, vinegar and peppercorns, garlic, pepper, peppercorns, bay leaves and sugar. The simple ingredients used in this dish also made this one among the most economical dishes to prepare. Chicken Adobo is normally eaten with steamed rice and a popular item in celebrations and festivals.

Chicken Adobo Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 kilo chicken thigh
• ⅓ cup soy sauce
• ⅓ cup vinegar
• 1 thumb ginger
• 7 cloves of garlic (minced)
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
• 3 pieces dried bay leaves
• 1 cup water
• ½ tablespoon sugar (optional)

Directions:

1. Wash and prepare the chicken thighs. Transfer them to a bowl and then add the soy sauce, vinegar and black pepper. Massage well and marinate for at least 1 hour.
2. Heat a pan (no oil). Arrange the chicken in the pan, with the skin side down. Sear them on both sides until light brown. Once brown, remove from the pan and set aside.
3. Using the same pan and oil, add the ginger, and garlic and saute them a little. Add the chicken back to the pan. Add the bay leaves, whole peppercorns and the reserved marinade. You may add some sugar if you like (optional).
4. Add some water. Cover the pot and let it simmer for 25 to 30 minutes using low medium heat. Stir a bit to cook evenly. Continue cooking until the sauce is reduced and the fat starts to render. Turn the heat off.
5. Transfer the chicken adobo to a serving plate. Enjoy this with a lot of hot steaming rice. Yum!

Chicken Adobo

f you want to prove that your’e a bonafide Filipino, you should know how to make the classic chicken adobo not just in one way, but in multiple ways. This dish is one among the Pinoy faves when it comes to chicken dishes as tender cuts of chicken are stewed in a sauce made with the soy sauce and vinegar. While there are a few types of adobo, personal preferences for this dish includes being soupy, with thick sauce or the nagmamantika or oily one. What’s your favorite version of chicken adobo?

Aside from being born in the Philippines, knowing how to make the classic chicken adobo is what makes you Filipino. While unofficial, the adobo is celebrated as the national dish of the Philippines. I was still young when my lola allowed me to join her in the kitchen and watch how she cooks our chicken adobo for dinner. It was one among the first dishes which I learned to prepare on my own.

While a lot of people are already calling me a “chef”, “cook” or “kitchen master”, this “master” of yours is nothing when faced with my lola. My lola is the real deal and I have some extra pressure on me whenever she visits our home and get to taste my cooking. What adds to my pressure is the presence of my other lolo and lola (my lola’s sibling). The challenge here was they like their adobo differently. One likes the adobo sweet and soupy, one likes it thick and saucy and the other one likes it oily. I usually prepare the oily version. While this looks hard, the reality is that you don’t need to make three separate adobos. You just need to know when to transfer the adobo to a serving plate before the sauce reduces or evaporates.

My most favorite part when eating nagmamantikang adobo over hot steaming rice is that the flavors are already concentrated in each chicken. The savoury oil is just a plus!

If you wanna know how to make nagmamantikang adobo, read and follow the quick steps below. Happy cooking!

How to Cook Chicken Adobo

Making some chicken adobo regardless of the sauce preference is pretty simple. For this recipe, we will make the version which is oily or nagmamantika. The secret of making nagmamantikang chicken adobo is to use chicken cuts with its skin still intact. I highly recommend you to use a chicken cut with its skin still on it. I am using all thigh parts for this recipe but feel free to any cut, or even a sliced whole chicken if you like.

The first part of a savoury chicken dish is marinating the meat. When marinating, I suggest to always prepare the marinade first on a separate bowl so you can adjust the taste if you like. You can’t taste the marinade if it already touches the raw chicken! The flavors incorporated in the marinade is super important as this will also serve as the sauce base for later.

After marinating, sear the chicken thighs in a heated pan. To ensure fat rendering, arrange them in a way where the skin touches the pan. Once the chicken turned brown, remove them from the pan for a while (or you can just push them on one side) and then saute the aromatics. For a sweeter adobo, I use a lot of onions and do extra minutes of sauteing for them to caramelize a bit. Place the chicken back to the pan and add the rest of the seasonings and the marinade. You may add minimal seasonings as the marinade already provides the umami and salty flavor. I sometimes add sugar to make it extra sweet.

To fully cook the chicken, you may add extra water to the marinade. If you want a soupy adobo, you may turn the heat off once all the ingredients come together. If you want a saucy adobo, you need to wait for extra minutes just for the sauce to be reduced and thick. And for nagmamantikang adobo, there would be extra extra minutes as we need to wait for the sauce to fully evaporate and the fat from the chicken skin to render.

Once your preferred version of sauce is achieved, you can now enjoy your favorite chicken adobo. 

Paano Magluto ng Nagmamantikang Adobong Manok

Mga Sangkap:

• 1 kilo hita ng manok
• ⅓ tasang toyo
• ⅓ tasang suka
• 1 luya (hiniwa)
• 7 butil ng bawang (hiniwa ng maliliit)
• ½ kutsaritang pamintang durog
• 1 kutsaritang pamintang buo
• 3 pirasong dahon ng laurel
• 1 tasang tubig
• ½ kutsarang asukal (optional)

Paano Lutuin:

1. Hugasan ang mga manok at ilipat sa isang bowl. Lagyan ito ng suka, toyo at pamintang durog. Imassage ng konti ang manok gamit ang marinade. Hayaan itong nakababad sa marinade ng 1 oras o higit pa.
2. Magpainit ng kawali (walang mantika). Ilagay sa kawali ang mga manok. Iharap sa kawali ang side ng manok na may balat. Lutuin ang mga ito hanggang maging light brown. Baliktarin ang mga ito para maluto ang kabilang side. Kapag luto na, ilagay muna ang mga manok sa lalagyan at isantabi.
3. Gamit ang parehong kawali at mantika, igisa ang luya at bawang ng ilang minuto. Ibalik ang mga manok sa kawali at igisa ang mga ito ng sama sama. Sunod na ilagay ang dahon ng laurel, buong paminta at ang marinade. Pwede mo itong lagyan ng konting asukal para tumamis (optional).
4. Lagyan ng konting tubig at takpan ang kawali. Hayaan itong maluto ng 25 – 30 minuto gamit ang mahinang katamtamang apoy. Haluin ito paminsan minsan para hindi masunog. Kapag nagmamantika na ang manok at medyo paiga na ang sabaw, luto na ang adobo. Patayin ang apoy.
5. Ilipat ang chicken adobo sa serving plate. Ihain ito kasama ng mainit na kanin. Yum!