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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."


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