Cultural Connections: Chicken Adobo

Culture foods is a way to get to know a country's soul ~ reflects the values, history and its taste. Come on join us now and show us your culture!

Adobo to a Filipino is about as basic as one can get. It is a dish that can be served for breakfast, lunch or dinner or even for a round of friendly drinking. When one is unsure about the ingredient to be cooked, one simply makes an adobo. The miracle of flavors happens when a few pieces of chopped garlic infuses with spritzes of vinegar and blends with the other ingredients producing a truly appetizing yet simple and economical dish.

Ingredients:
400 gms. of chicken
3 tbsps. vinegar
1/4 cup cracked peppercorns
8 cloves garlic, crushed or 2 small heads of native garlic
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbsps. patis or soy sauce
2 tbsps. oil
1 cup stock

Procedure:
Sauté garlic in oil. Press garlic to infuse flavor in the oil. Add chicken, then brown while stir-frying. Sweat the meat until golden brown. Add vinegar and simmer. Don't stir until vinegar boils and releases its acidic odor. Add pepper then patis or soy sauce. Braise meat in 1 cup stock, scraping the sides and bottom of the pan. And that's it. Simple as it is, but a very tasty dish. Try it now!

***Chicken may be substituted with pork or you can combine both.