Adobo is the go-to dish for Filipino home cooking.
When you go to a party, they will serve Lechon, but this is something you can’t have every day if you want to live past 40.
Adobo is confusing because Goya makes a product called Adobo which is nothing like Filipino Adobo.
Ok, so now it is time for my rant. I measure everything. Why, because I want to be able to consistently repeat it. I’ve been admonished for this as not being a good cook because a Chef should just know how much to put in and go by taste. My retort, if I can put a smile on your face today, I know I can repeat it because I take care to be consistent.
The wives tale that I deal with every time I make Adobo is, once the vinegar and soy sauce are simmering, you must not touch it or you can ruin the dish.
Adobo is simple and wonderful and my only complaint ever might be that there isn’t enough sauce. I’m a dip bread in that sauce guy. There are some Filipino dishes that I prefer with bread. I never let them see me do this. As long as you keep the proportions, there is no reason why you couldn’t double the sauce below. Double the soy sauce, vinegar, bay leaf and garlic. Always make sure you have 1 ½ half times vinegar to soy sauce.
You can use a whole chicken or just thighs. You can use diced pork, hell I’m willing to substitute any meat, I’m even willing to go as far as to use tofu.
Here it is
· ¾ cup sugar cane vinegar (you really do need to follow this rule)
· ½ cup soy sauce (Kikkoman style – not la choy, or la choy style – I won’t judge)
· 1 or 2 whole medium to large heads of garlic separated and crushed
· 8 chicken thighs or drumsticks or 4 whole chicken legs, or a whole chicken cut up (skin on)
· 1 table spoon black pepper corns
· 2 Bay leafs
Put all of the ingredients in a pot, cover it and simmer until the chicken is done, ½ hour to 45 minutes.
Remove the chicken and crisp it up under the broiler.
Simmer and reduce the sauce to half.
You could serve with sautéed onions and rice. Generally, we eat this two days after cooking allowing everything to blend. Some dishes are better after they sit for a few days. Also, it is easier to scrape the fat from the surface after is has hardened.
Let’s talk about rice. Seems the health community tells us the carbohydrates or sugars are worse than fats. I recall going through the whole “fat free” phase of the 90’s and how we all just got fatter from lots of pasta. Then there was the whole Atkins movement and people ended up with other problems. Oh and the rebound was terrible once you started having carbs again.
Filipino food if done the traditional way is a sure fire way to have diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, and heart disease at an early age.
However, with a few modifications, you can have all of the flavor and survive.
1) Limit the white rice and preferably substitute with brown rice.
2) Use less fatty cuts of meat.
3) Skim the fat between steps.
4) Get used to creating portions instead of scooping from the pot.
5) If there are carbs in the dish – don’t serve it with rice at all
6) Try substituting Quinoa for rice – ok I’m pushing it now
A healthy life style is really hard to adopt unless you start gradually. We live in a world that keeps us sitting behind desks and it really hard to get up and do. You also need to expect that sometimes you’ll fall off, but you just need to start again.
Kiss yourself for making deliciousness.
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