Filipino Chicken Adobo

[AllenOK]

One of these days, I'm going to try this. I'm not sure how much it yields, but 6# of chicken is a lot of chicken!

Filipino Chicken Adobo

½ c Kikkoman soy sauce
2 c white vinegar
2 c water
8 cloves garlic, mashed or minced
4 bay leaves
2 t freshly ground black pepper
2 small dried cayenne peppers
3 t salt
6 # split chicken breasts (or thighs)
¼ c vegetable oil

In medium bowl, combine soy sauce, vinegar, water, garlic, bay leaves, pepper, cayenne peppers and salt. Pour over chicken pieces in a large, covered Dutch oven. Marinate at room temperature 30 minutes. Then bring to a boil over medium-heat. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 30 minutes. Remove and drain the chicken pieces. Continue simmering the liquid uncovered until reduced by half. In large skillet heat the oil and brown the chicken pieces on all sides, cooking in batches if necessary. Be careful because it can splatter. Then add the chicken back into the simmering liquid, and reduce heat to low until serving time. Use some of the sauce to deglaze the skillet, and add the resulting pan juices back to the original pan.

 

[HappyAvocado]

oooh, i started an adobo thread a while back:
http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13492&highlight=adobo

i love the stuff, we have adobo once a week at my house.

 

[kitchenelf]

I too love adobo!! It's flavor-packed and easy to make.

 

[Anau]

It looks very similar to my mom's except without the bay leaves, cayenne pepper, and vegetable oil. She also uses cider vinegar instead of white.

 

[AllenOK]

She also uses cider vinegar instead of white.

I was wondering about that. IMHO, white vinegar is just a little harsh on my palate. I prefer the flavor of cider vinegar, or possibly rice wine vinegar, as it's just a little smoother on my throat.

Anyone try sub'ing out rice wine vinegar for white vinegar in an Adobo?

 

[kitchenelf]

I understand the harshness of white vinegar but it is very smooth in an adobo recipe. There's really no bite or harshness to it, just a nice flavor. I haven't used apple cider because there is such a great flavor difference. It's worth a try on a couple pieces next time I make it though. I would imagine that rice wine would be very good here.

 

[Anau]

Do my my grandma does, add some sugar if it's too acidic. Naturally, her spaghetti sauce could be eaten as a dessert.

 

[Alix]

6 #??

 

[kitchenelf]

Allen - Here is a scaled down version that I use. Sometimes I add more soy sauce.

 

[AllenOK]

6 #??

Sorry, Alix, that's the professional in me coming out. "6#" means six pounds. Many of my recipes will read that. I'm going to have to change all those when I try to start putting my cookbook together.

 

[AllenOK]

Ok, I'm going to give this a try for lunch today. I've scaled the sauce ingredients down by a factor of four, and am going to use 2 chicken thighs.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Sorry, Alix, that's the professional in me coming out. "6#" means six pounds. Many of my recipes will read that. I'm going to have to change all those when I try to start putting my cookbook together.

You're writing cookbooks too? That's cool. Can't wait to see them.

I have four written so far, and placed them into files that I burn onto CD-ROM's. I offer them in both MicroSoft Word and PDF format. But I'm thinking of compiling them into one, all-inclusive volume and adding an extensive index list at the end. So far, they all have a hyper-text table-of-context that allows the reader to point and click to each chapter.

It was challenging to convert my no-measure, add as you go techniques into quantifiable measurements for recipes. But it was worth the effort.

I have proofread each of them numerous times, but still occasionally find minor typos or ways that individual sentences could be improved. As one of my past writing instructors was fond of saying, "Great writing is 10% inspiration and 90%perspiration".

And with that, I close.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[Alix]

Sorry, Alix, that's the professional in me coming out. "6#" means six pounds. Many of my recipes will read that. I'm going to have to change all those when I try to start putting my cookbook together.

I THOUGHT thats what it meant...but as you say...thats a LOT of chicken!

 

[AllenOK]

Ok, I tried a small batch today for lunch. Here's the recipe and quantities that I reduced down.

Filipino Chicken Adobo
Yields: 2 servings

2 T Kikkoman soy sauce
½ c white vinegar
½ c water
2 t garlic, minced
1 bay leaves
½ t freshly ground black pepper
cayenne pepper, to taste
¾ t salt
2 split chicken breasts (or thighs)
1 T vegetable oil

In medium bowl, combine soy sauce, vinegar, water, garlic, bay leaves, pepper, cayenne peppers and salt. Pour over chicken pieces in a large, covered Dutch oven. Marinate at room temperature 30 minutes. Then bring to a boil over medium-heat. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 30 minutes. Remove and drain the chicken pieces. Continue simmering the liquid uncovered until reduced by half. In large skillet heat the oil and brown the chicken pieces on all sides, cooking in batches if necessary. Be careful because it can splatter. Then add the chicken back into the simmering liquid, and reduce heat to low until serving time. Use some of the sauce to deglaze the skillet, and add the resulting pan juices back to the original pan.

I DID NOT follow the instructions exactly as listed. I combined all the marinade ingredients into a 2 c pyrex measuring cup, then added the chicken. Then, I had an idea. Why not just pour all the stuff into the 1 1/2 qt saucepan that I'm going to simmer it in, and let it marinate in that, then turn on the heat? So, into the pan it went.

However, while I was doing the dishes and letting the chicken marinate, I got to thinking about the recipe. It calls to simmer, then brown in a skillet while reducing the sauce, deglaze, then marry to two back together. I thought it would just be easier to brown off the chicken first, deglaze the pan, then simmer/reduce. So, I heated up a cast iron skillet, browned off the chicken, removed the chicken to the saucepan, and poured a little of the sauce into the skillet to deglaze, then poured that liquid back into the saucepan. Covered and simmered for 30, then took the lid off and reduced the sauce by half.

RESULTS:
It was good! However, I still feel the vinegar is a little strong. I'm going to change the recipe to read as follows:

Filipino Chicken Adobo
Yields: 2 servings

2 T Kikkoman soy sauce
½ c white vinegar
-or- rice wine vinegar
½ c water
2 t garlic, minced
1 bay leaves
½ t freshly ground black pepper
cayenne pepper, to taste
¾ t salt
2 split chicken breasts (or thighs)
1 T vegetable oil
1 T brown sugar, or to taste, optional

In medium bowl, combine soy sauce, vinegar, water, garlic, bay leaves, pepper, cayenne peppers and salt. Add the chicken pieces, cover, and marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes. Remove and drain the chicken pieces. In a heavy-bottomed pan with a tight-fitting lid, heat the oil and brown the chicken pieces on all sides, cooking in batches if necessary. Be careful because it can splatter. Remove the chicken to a plate or platter, and add the marinade to the pan to deglaze it, scraping up any browned bits, as this adds flavor and color to the sauce. Then add the chicken back into the simmering liquid, place a lid askew on the pan, and reduce heat to a simmer, cooking until the chicken is tender and the liquid has reduced by half. Remove the chicken to serving plates, and taste the sauce. Add the brown sugar is the vinegar is to strong. Spoon some of the sauce over the chicken and serve.

 

[AllenOK]

I can't believe I didn't think of this! I just made another change, and changed the 1/2 c of water to water -or- chicken stock

 

[AllenOK]

I'm going to try another batch, as I still have some chicken thighs. I'm going to use the chicken stock. I need to look and see if I have any rice wine vinegar around, as I think I have some. If I find any, I'll try that.

 

[HappyAvocado]

remember folks, adobo is always better the next day! the flavors get stronger, and since it is a vinegar dish a huge pot of adobo will last in the fridge longer than regular leftover meat. when i make adobo i always make enough for several meals.

 

[Anau]

I was told the dish was actually designed so that it would last longer back before refrigeration. I agree, it is better the next day! I like to pick at the cold meat with a loaf of pan de sal Filipino bread.

 

[AllenOK]

Ok, I just gave it a taste test. It's good! I still think the amount of white vinegar is a little much. I did add a little brown sugar at the end to cut the vinegar taste. I still need to try and get some rice wine vinegar and make a batch with that.

edited to add: I completely left out the 3/4 t salt this time around. There's enough salt in the soy that I felt I didn't need more, although as stated, this dish was created to preserve the chicken after it's cooked, so a lot of salt will help that, along with the vinegar.