Favorite Filipino Delicacy (May 5, 2016)

 Adobong Manok

Chicken Adobo is just 1 of the many variety of Adobo Recipes. I assume it's on the top 2 of the list of most favorite adobo recipe, top 1 is Pork Adobo and on the third place i guess, is the mixture of both which is the Chicken and Pork Adobo. Since this is adobo, there is no right or wrong of cooking it as long as you have the basic ingredients such as soy sauce and vinegar (and of course the meat). You will never go wrong in cooking this delicious saucy brown dish, even a non-pro can cook this in as easy as 1-2-3.

A little knowledge about the recipe. The word "adobo" is derived from a Spanish word "adobar" which simply means marinade. History says that the spanish brought the Adobo recipe to the philippines, but some food historians says that even before the Spanish conquerors found the Philippines, the way of cooking adobo already exist and practiced by the native filipinos. It is called "pickling", a method of cooking or a process of preserving food by marinating the meat or other fruits and vegetables in vinegar and/or salt. In this way, the food last in longer period of time without spoiling. The vinegar and salt kills all the bacteria that causes the food to spoil. What about the soy sauce? Okay, the black liquid ingredient or the soy sauce were introduced to the philippines by the chinese traders. Soy sauce became a good substitute to the salt then later on completely became officially the perfect match for vinegar when cooking adobo recipe. Since filipinos are fond of sweet foods, adding sugar to the dish is just another sweet option and is a complement to adobo dish. Iguess, the perfect combination of the vinegar, soy sauce and sugar is the reason why adobo became the national dish of the philippines.

Ingredients (1 batches) 

1. 1 kilo chicken, cut into serving pieces

2. 1/2 cup white vinegar
3. 1/2 cup soy sauce

4. 3 potatoes, peeled and sliced in wedge

5. 4 cloves garlic, whole (peeled)

6. 1 to 2 cups water

7. 1/4 cup cooking oil

8. 2 tbsp. brown sugar (or less)

9. 3 pcs dried bay leaves

10. 1 tsp. whole peppercorn

 

HOW TO COOK CHICKEN ADOBO:

1. Wash the chicken with salt and running water. Drain and set aside.
2. In a large and clean container, combine the soy sauce, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns and brown sugar then marinade the chicken for 1 to 3 hours. Put inside the fridge.
3. Heat the cooking oil in a pan over medium fire.
4. Fry the potatoes and garlic (from the marinade) until light brown. Set aside.
5. Pick the chicken from the marinade. Set aside.

6. Using the same oil, add the marinated chicken and sauté for 5 minutes or until it becomes light brown.
7. Pour-in the remaining marinade and add 1 cup of water. Let it simmer for 10 minutes or until the chicken is tender. (Heat is on medium to low).
8. Season with salt and add more sugar according to your desired sweetness.
9. Add in the fried potatoes and garlic. Stir gently. Cover and simmer for 3 minutes over low heat.
10. Turn off the fire.
11. Plate and serve hot. Bon appetit!

TIPS:

1. Put more garlic to add more flavor to the oil.
2. Frying the chicken, potatoes and garlic intensifies the flavor of the adobo sauce.
3. You can use a cornstarch mixture (1 tbsp. cornstarch to ½ cup of water) to thicken the adobo sauce.
4. More sugar, more Filipino flavor!

Adobong Manok is a delicious Filipino food, it is made up of chicken. I like adobong manok because whenever my mother cooks adobo I always need extra rice. You can cook adobong manok at any occasions. Adobong manok is a delicious delicacy because of the soy sauce and vinegar mix together.