Chicken Adobo
The Filipino national dish: chicken simmered in soy sauce, vinegar, garlic and bay until the sauce reduces to a glossy, salty-sour glaze. The simplest serious dish you'll cook. Adobo means "marinade" in Spanish; here it's the cooking method, not the marinade.
Overview
Chicken thighs and drumsticks simmer in a 1:1:1 mix of soy sauce, vinegar and water with garlic, peppercorns and bay. The chicken cooks through; the sauce reduces; the meat browns at the edges. That's the entire dish. Served over rice with a few extra spoonfuls of sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 kg chicken thighs and drumsticks (bone-in, skin on)
- 100 ml soy sauce
- 100 ml white wine vinegar (or cane vinegar)
- 100 ml water
- 6 garlic cloves (crushed)
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar (optional)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (for browning)
- Cooked white rice, to serve
- 2 spring onions (sliced, to finish)
Method
Stage 1 - Marinate (optional)
- Combine the soy, vinegar, garlic, peppercorns and bay in a large bowl with the chicken.
- Marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes (or skip this and cook straight away - adobo works either way).
Stage 2 - Simmer
- Tip everything into a heavy pan; add the water and brown sugar.
- Bring to a simmer; cover and cook 25 minutes, turning the chicken halfway, until cooked through and tender.
Stage 3 - Reduce
- Lift the chicken out; uncover the pan.
- Reduce the cooking liquid over high heat for 5-8 minutes until glossy and slightly thickened.
Stage 4 - Brown
- While the sauce reduces, heat the oil in a separate frying pan.
- Fry the chicken pieces skin-side down for 3-4 minutes until the skin is crisp and deep brown.
Stage 5 - Serve
- Return the chicken to the reduced sauce; turn to coat.
- Serve over rice; spoon extra sauce over.
- Scatter spring onions on top.
Notes
- Don't stir during the simmer: The vinegar needs to cook slowly without agitation; stirring keeps it sharp. Leave it alone.
- Cane vinegar is traditional: Available at Filipino or Asian grocers; gives a slightly sweeter, more aromatic sour note. White wine vinegar is fine.
- Brown the chicken at the end, not start: Adobo's chicken poaches first, browns last; the order is opposite to most stews and gives the characteristic glossy meat.
Storage
- Improves overnight. Keeps 4 days refrigerated; the flavour deepens.
- Freezes 3 months.
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