If there is a national dish for Filipinos, I am sure everyone would agree that it is the adobo. Adobo is cooked for regular meals as well as for special occasions. Its piquant taste is so good that not only chicken but pork, lamb, beef, seafood and vegetables are cooked as adobo as well.
I remember my mother cooking adobo, the delicious smell of frying garlic combined with the mixture of vinegar and soy sauce on big slices of belly pork would permeate the house. It is a happy day on adobo day.
I have cooked adobo here in London several times. Each time my husband and son would compliment me with how delicious the adobo was. The cooked adobo can stay safely inside the fridge for a few days; the the vinegar in the meat is a natural preservative. The few days that the adobo is left alone actually makes the taste better. However, it is hard to believe that an adobo would be left languishing uneaten on the fridge.
Chicken Adobo Recipe
Marinade:
A cup and a half of rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
12 garlic cloves, peeled
3 bay leaves
3 whole birdeye chiles (optional)
1 cup coconut milk (optional)
a teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
A 3 and a half pound whole chicken, cut into pieces
How to cook:
In a large bowl, preferably a ceramic bowl, combine all the the ingredients for the marinade. Add the chicken pieces and turn to coat in the marinade. Refrigerate for two hours or overnight.
In a large casserole heat the chicken in the marinade, bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to simmer. When nearly cooked, take out the meat and continue to boil the marinade to make a sauce. When it thickened, removed the sauce into a bowl. returned the chicken pieces into the pan and add a bit of oil and fry it in more garlic.
Serve with boiled rice.
The left-over can be delicious eaten for breakfast with a little fried rice!
Chicken adobo