Chicken Adobo (Chicken in Soy Sauce and Vinegar)

Chicken Adobo  (Chicken in Soy Sauce and Vinegar)

Chicken Adobo is one of the Philippines signature dish and every Filipinos favourites. Adobo is from Spanish word "adobor" meaning marinade, sauce or seasoning. My son also love this dish so much, every time I will  ask him of what dish he wants me to cook for him, without a second thought he will tell straight away “ Chicken Adobo”!.

What so special about this Philippines dish? Why it is love and like by everyone? Probably the perfect blending of the vinegar and soy sauce marinade that suits very well with Filipinos taste buds. This dish is somehow best eaten a day after it was cooked, the meat will fully absorb the sauce and became more tender. This is best serve with steaming hot white rice (drooling already here).

My son is one among who love this dish so much. He can stand to eat this dish even every day. We are cooking this dish almost every week and my son is the happiest person in the house if we are having this dish no need to call him twice during mealtime. 

If you search "Chicken Adobo" in the net, you can find many and different ways how to cook this dish. Others will add boiled eggs or chicken liver or pineapples chunks to have a sweetness taste. Some they mixed with pork meat and some will fry the meat when it cooked and pour the sauce after.

My way is the how my family cook this dish, traditional and simple. You can follow below recipe if you wonder why this dish is very popular dish in the Philippines.

Chicken Adobo  (Chicken in Soy Sauce and Vinegar) Recipe

Ingredients:

   

• 1 kilo chicken, cut into desired pieces
• 2 tbsp. oil
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pc. onion, diced
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp Oyster sauce
• ½ peppercorns
• 2 cups water
• 2 medium size potatoes, quartered and slightly fried (optional)
• 6 pcs hard boiled eggs (optional)

For Marinade:

• 1 tsp. ground pepper;
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium lemon, squeezed and seeded
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 4 pcs bay leaf

• 

Procedure and cooking instructions: 

1. In a large bowl, mix in the soy sauce, vinegar, ground pepper, garlic, bay leaf and chicken pieces then marinate for 2-3 hours or overnight. Set aside the marinade sauce. (Do not discard the marinade sauce)

2. Heat cooking oil in a deep pan or wok and fry the potatoes until half cooked, then set aside.

3. From, the same wok where the potatoes were fried, sauté garlic and onion, until become all translucent.

4. Add in the marinade chicken and sauté until the chicken meat becomes white and sides starts to brown.

5. Pour now the marinade sauce, oyster sauce, brown sugar, peppercorns and water into the chicken then simmer for 30-40 minutes until the chicken become tender and thickened the sauce. Checked and stir it from time to time to prevent burning at the bottom of the pot. Add in the fried potatoes and hard-boiled eggs if using then simmer for additional 10 minutes. If the sauce is drying up fast, add water about ½ cup or less. 
    
 Note: You can use pressure cooker to speed up the process to 15 minutes, but need to reduce the water to 1 ½ cup. After 15 minutes de-pressurised the cooker and add in the potatoes and eggs then simmer for additional 10 minutes

6.  Add salt and pepper to taste. If you want it drier cook a little further or with just enough sauce.

7.  Transfer to serving dish. Serve hot with rice. Enjoy eating!

Note:

If you want your meat crispy, once the chicken is soft remove from the pot and pan-fried them until the skin turns golden brown, then place chicken on the serving plate then pour the adobo sauce.