Skip to main content

Chicken Adobo

It's really no secret that I'm a fan of Asian cuisine. I love Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese and Thai. Something I'm relatively new to is Filipino food. I went to Catholic school for many years while living in California, and 80% of my class was always made up of Filipino kids. I had a few friends, but we weren't close. Grade school was very cliquey.  I tried to hang out with them, but the fact of the matter was, 1) I was a nerd and 2) we literally had nothing in common. I have only tried a few things from Filipino cuisine. My two favorite are lumpia (egg rolls) and chicken adobo.

I have a confession: I HAVE NEVER HAD ADOBO MADE BY ANYONE BUT ME.

I found this recipe on America’s Test Kitchen, and I have made it a few times now. It is incredible. The coconut milk really makes it for me- and of course, the garlic. Ohhhh soooo much garlic! If this isn’t how you make adobo, tell me how you make yours. For those who have tried this recipe, what do you think of it?



INGREDIENTS:


·         8 (5 to 7 ounces) bone-in chicken thighs, trimmed (or 4 large bone-in breasts cut in half)
·         1/3 cup soy sauce
·         1 (13 1/2 ounce) can coconut milk (light or regular)
·         3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
·         8 garlic cloves, peeled
·         4 bay leaves
·         2 teaspoons pepper
·         1 scallion, sliced thin

INSTRUCTIONS:
   
      Toss chicken with soy sauce in large bowl. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour.
2    Remove chicken from soy sauce, allowing excess to drip back into bowl. Transfer chicken, skin side down, to 12-inch nonstick skillet; set aside soy sauce.
3    Place skillet over medium-high heat and cook until chicken skin is browned, 7 to 10 minutes. While chicken is browning, whisk coconut milk, vinegar, garlic, bay leaves, and pepper into soy sauce.
4      Transfer chicken to plate and discard fat in skillet. Return chicken to skillet skin side down, add coconut milk mixture, and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Flip chicken skin side up and continue to cook, uncovered, until chicken registers 175 degrees, about 15 minutes. Transfer chicken to platter and tent loosely with aluminum foil.
5     Remove bay leaves and skim any fat off surface of sauce. Return skillet to medium-high heat and cook until sauce is thickened, 5 to 7 minutes. Pour sauce over chicken, sprinkle with scallion, and serve.
This recipe serves 4-6 and is served over white (or brown) rice. And here is their explanation on why this recipe works:

"Adobo is the national dish of the Philippines, and chicken adobo is among the most popular. The dish consists of chicken simmered in a mixture of vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaves, and black pepper. The problem with most recipes we found was that they were aggressively tart and salty. Our secret to taming both of these elements was coconut milk. The coconut milk's richness tempered the bracing acidity of the vinegar and masked the briny soy sauce, bringing the sauce into balance."


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Grandma's Stuffed Cabbage

I really have no idea where this recipe came from, as we're Italian, and its really not an Italian dish. If you do searches online, you will come up with Hungarian and Polish backgrounds. My grandfather's sister married a man of Hungarian descent. It could have come from there. However, my grandmother used to also work for a Jewish caterer. She made life-long friends with the ladies she served with. One in particular happened to be a Holocaust survivor. I remember as a little girl, the old ladies would gather once a month for lunch. I can remember my grandma brought me once and I noticed that one of the ladies had a tattoo on her forearm. This was so strange to me, because I wasn't real familiar with tattoos, and especially ladies with tattoos. (All of that will change as I get older.) I was so curious about this tattoo and like children do, my eyes became fixated on it. She noticed my curiosity and asked me if I knew what it was. "A tattoo!" I exclaimed, so p...
Post a Comment
Read more

I LOVE TACOS!

If you know me, you know that I'm a serious taco connoisseur. I love tacos. I don't discriminate either. Well, unless its something weird like lengua or cabeza. I know, I know.... It's all a mental thing to me though. I just can't bring myself to do it. Growing up, I have never really been a fish person. As an adult, I tried really hard to incorporate fish into my diet. I started out with mild fish like  Tilapia or Cod  then moved on to stronger, richer fish like Salmon. I am still a little bit picky about the way they are prepared. I really only like the way that I prepare Salmon. I like it broiled in the oven with a honey mustard glaze or grilled on the bbq. Mmm! Delicious! However, is seems like the grocery stores are carrying a bigger variety of fish now. A new one that I like is Swai or Basa . If you have never tried it, give it a go. It's a very mild fish like Tilapia . Over the past couple years, I have been working on perfecting a recipe for fish tacos, ...
1 comment
Read more

Chi-Chi-Chi...Chia! (Seeds)

With all the diet fads going around nowadays, its hard to keep up with all of the stuff that is actually good for you. Is it good for me? Is it a super food? Will it give me tons of energy? These are probably some of the questions that float around in your head... no? OK, that's just me then. Lately, with all this GMO Monsanto talk, there is also a rush on super foods. This stuff has been around for a billion years, and now, its just getting the press it deserves. A few years ago, it was quinoa. Pronounced (kin-wa) for those who still don't know how in the hell to say it. For those who have no idea what the heck it is, its a grain like seed, kinda like couscous, but more woody tasting. It originated in the Andean region of Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia and Peru. It is an excellent source of both fiber and protein. I happen to like quinoa a lot. More foods that top the "OMG you must incorporate it into your diet NOW" list are coconut water, aloe vera, flaxseed, and chi...
Post a Comment
Read more