Make Ahead
Filipino Chicken Pork Adobo - A Family Recipe
- Prep time 15 minutes
- Cook time 3 hours
- Serves 5-6
Author Notes
I come from a large family of cooks and foodies on both sides. And like most Filipino families, we have our very own family recipe for adobo that we swear by. The adobo I know is from my mother’s side of the family. I spent a large part of my childhood in my maternal grandmother’s house where chicken and pork adobo was a staple. Our adobo is on the dry side, meaning not too saucy or wet, with fork-tender chicken and pork meat, and an oily, flavourful sauce rich with garlic, peppercorns and those tiny, utterly delicious bits and pieces of adobo goodness. Some basics:
1. There are no onions in Filipino Adobo
2. It is either pork or chicken or both and the fresher those are the better your adobo.
3. Never forget the peppercorns or the bay leaves. The bay leaf in particular lends its distinctive aroma to adobo that makes adobo what it is.
4. We have our own soy sauce and vinegar of choice and we stick to it but you can use any local brand. Filipino-style soy sauce and vinegar should be available in Asian food stores. Just remember never to use the thicker, sweeter types of Asian soy sauce and just use plain white or cane vinegar. In fact, you can skip the soy sauce altogether.
5. Always take time to tenderize the meat. Whether you prefer the saucy or the dry adobo, it is nothing if not tender. The original article for this recipe appears here: https://goo.gl/6YzQAL Enjoy! —Ina Amor-Mejia
Ingredients
-
3/4 kg chicken pieces, skin on
-
1/2 kg pork belly, cubed
-
2
heads of garlic, chopped
-
soy sauce
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white or cane vinegar
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whole peppercorns
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bay leaves
-
rock salt (optional)
Directions
- Put the chicken and pork in a medium-sized pot with a lid. Add the garlic, peppercorns, and soy sauce and vinegar, which should make enough liquid just to cover some of the meat (some pieces will still be above the liquid and that’s ok). There should be twice as much vinegar to the soy sauce. If you’re not using soy sauce, salt the meat well and add enough vinegar just to cover. You can also dilute the vinegar just a bit with about 1/4 cup of water. Give the meat mixture a quick but thorough stir.
- Add about 5 bay leaves and then in medium-high heat, bring the adobo to a boil. Turn heat down to low and then cover. Simmer gently until meat is tender (at least an hour, up to three), and the soy-vinegar mixture has somewhat reduced.
- Turn the heat off and let the adobo rest, covered, at room temperature, until no longer piping hot. You can actually serve the adobo at this point or do as we do and move on to the next step.
- Carefully transfer the chicken and pork (which should be really tender) to a non-stick frying pan this time, but one that’s big enough to hold all of the meat in one layer. Pour in a bit of the oil from the first pot and gently fry the adobo over medium heat. The point is to cook the chicken and pork further down to a crisp, turning the pieces once to brown on both sides.
- Once all the meat is done to your liking you can choose to pour the rest of the adobo sauce into the frying pan to heat. Serve with hot rice and enjoy. Or if you are making ahead, cool the adobo before keeping in the fridge and reheat gently on the stove before serving the next day.
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