Chicken Adobo For Dinner

Adobo is one of the most common denominator foods of Filipinos. You can cook a lot of varieties of Adobo from meat products such as chicken and pork to vegetables such as string beans, kangkong, okra or any other veggies you would like to try. Certain regions have their own style and way of cooking adobo. But what I would like to share here is our own family recipe and it is not soupy like some prepare it with lots of water content. My Adobo version is dry yet simply the best to team with hot steamy rice and you can appreciate it more if you use your clean fingers or a hand to eat (provincial style).
Here is the basic, when you try Adobo for meat products (I don’t include Beef) coz I haven’t tried beef adobo, it is best to combine the ingredients first before cooking. But when you’re trying to cook adobo on veggies, most likely it is to be sautéed which is common but I don’t sauté on meat products because I marinate them first before cooking. I will explain later why.
Adobo’s main ingredients that gives it flavor and character is garlic, soya sauce and vinegar, the rest follows. Adobo without garlic will never be called Adobo, because this gives the aroma combined with the balance of soy sauce and vinegar. Some like their adobo sweet so they can include pineapple chunks or sugar on meat. But definitely it is a no-no to add sweets on adobo veggies.
Some people would cook their adobo meat like they are sautéing it. I have no problem with that, but it will never be my style and I don’t want to implement it or teach it on my kids. I think you would ask me WHYYYY?? Well some uses vinegar ahead of soy sauce which is a very big mistake because your vinegar would make your meat hard and rubbery and that is not the way it supposed to happen because your meat will be ANEMIC in color regardless of how much soya sauce you put on it. I don’t put ONION on my MEAT ADOBO, I only put ONION on veggie adobos because that is much proper.
By the way, Adobo is not Sinigang that you should put a lot of water that your meat or veggies would swim along. Never ever do that to your Adobo please. Let me explain before you complain. Adobo is not a soup recipe, so basically it should be cooked in way that it is known for, oily tasty and very flavorful. It is not wrong if there is ample amount of water. Here is how to prepare this delicious recipe:
Dry Chicken Adobo but Oily


Ingredients for Chicken Adobo:

1/2 kilo chicken meat (whatever parts you like)
Cloves of garlic (this depends on how much is your take)
Vinegar (sugarcane vinegar)
Soy sauce
Ground black pepper
Salt to taste
1 Bay leaf
Water
Vegetable oil

Methods on How to Cook Adobo:

Make sure to wash and clean your chicken first. It is best to rub it with rock salt to remove unpleasant smell. After you have washed the chicken parts, put into pan or cooking pot and put all the ingredients and mix it. Take note that I didn’t put any amount for those since you need to taste it for yourself. Example is if you put 5 tbsp. of soy sauce that means you need to put 3 tbsp. of vinegar in your chicken but this depends on your taste so you have the control of how much vinegar and soy sauce you need for your adobo.
Wish I have quail eggs for this recipe, but anyway its still yummy!


Water is only 5 tbsp. to 7 tbsp. and vegetable oil is 7-8 tbsp. If you wanted it spicy, go ahead and place any chili powder if you like but not too much. You can also put one small can of pineapple chunks but that is when your chicken is already done. Some prefer to put brown sugar in their adobo that is no problem. You can also do that if you like. Adobo is versatile, you can put boiled chicken egg or quail egg into it. Some put saba (type of banana) and tapioca (cassava) into it. You can be as creative as you like in cooking Adobo.
Finally, my Dinner Chicken Adobo..Bon Appetit!