Adobo

Adobo

Adobo is considered by many as the Philippine’s national dish because of its popularity, ease in preparation, and long storage life.

When the Spanish conquered the Philippines in the late 16th century and early 17th century, they encountered an indigenous cooking process which involved stewing with vinegar, which they then referred to as adobo, the Spanish word for seasoning or marinade.

Adobo recipe originally is a Spanish recipe, but during that era, Adobo is cook using just salt as a flavoring but it is believed that when Chinese introduces soy sauce Filipino started to use it instead of salt. Now a day’s Filipino still cook adobo in different ways, as different region has its own method for preparing adobo. Other use gata for adobo just like in Bicol as their region has a lot of coconut trees. Other region use natural vinegar such as sukang sasa as their place is an organic vinegar produces. In Batangas adobo is cooked with achuette (annatto), and adobo is also use as a filling for pandesal (Filipino traditional bun). Adobo is not only limited to pork and chicken meats, seafood and vegetables, such as squid (pusit), goat meat, veal, beef, shrimp (hipon), river spinach (kang-kong), string beans (sitaw) can also be cooked this way.

Preparation Time: 10-15 minutes

Total Cooking Time: 30-40 minutes

Makes About/Servings: 6 

Ingredients:

1 kg Meat cut into cubes (Chicken or Pork or combination of both)
1 cloves of Garlic, smashed
1 tbsp whole Pepper Corn
½ cup of Vinegar
1 cup of Soy Sauce
1 cup Water
5 pieces dried Bay Leaves

Cooking Procedure:

1. In a pot add the Meat, Garlic, Whole Peppercorns, Vinegar, Soy Sauce, Water  and  Bay leaves. 

2. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to medium low, and let it simmer for 30 minutes. 

3. At this point you need to increase the heat to high and keep checking in 2-minute increments until the liquid is almost or totally evaporated if you prefer a dry Adobo.

4. Serve hot. Excellent with white rice.

Tips and Tricks:

Add 1 Tbs. of cooking oil (optional) if you choose to cook Chicken only.

If you decide to use Pork, bring the liquid mixture just above the meat (not below) and let it cook for 1 ½-2 hours on medium low in order for the meat to be very tender.

If you feel like combining meat and vegetable in your Adobo - Add 2 Medium size potatoes peeled & quartered.