Chicken Adobo recipe

[nycrani]

Hi!

I'm looking for a good authentic chicken adobo recipe. Any suggestions?

I looked at epicurious, recipebazaar but they didn't look very good.

Thanks,

nycrani

[Val]

Gently asking: I'm assuming you mean the Filipino kind of adobo? Are you sure you looked at this recipe (link below) from epi? I know there are a number of them at that website but this one has received kudos from Filipino natives in addition to others (check out the review by Cook from Minnapolis) and I've made it a number of times, not that I'm an expert in adobo, by all means.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/rec...

[yumyum]

I make a very simple adobo with a Gourmet recipe from years ago. I don't know how authentic it is, but it tastes really good, served over hot white rice.

8 chicken drumsticks (or drums and thighs) about 2 1/2 lbs
4 garlic cloves
1 T veg oil
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce (I prefer kikkoman low sodium here)
1 t. black peppercorns
1 bay leaf

Pat chicken dry. Coarsely chop garlic. In a large skillet, heat oil over high heat. Brown chicken in 2 batches about 8 minutes per batch. Remove chicken to a plate. Pour off all but 1 T fat and cook garlic over moderately low heat until golden, 1-2 mins. Add vinegar, soy, peppercorns, bay leaf and return chicken to pan. Simmer covered about 15 minutes. Remove lid and cook over med-low heat, turning chicken occasionally until sauce is thickened and coats chicken, about another 15 minutes. Yum.

The only thing I would caution about is the whole peppercorns. You are meant to eat them whole in the sauce. I like them but they might be too pungent for milder palates. In this case, you can use ground pepper instead, or a combination of both.

[bdumes]

I don't know if Martin Yan is out of favor these days, but his book Martin Yan's Asia had a terrific recipe for Chicken Adobo that is fabulous. I've made it many times and it's always wowed everyone.

It's similar to the recipe above though Yan instructs you to braise first and brown later. This is tricky to do because the chicken is now cook and very tender, so a bit of care is required, but browning after really seals in the great flavors.

Since it's not kosher to publish recipes verbatim, here's a summary:

combine rice vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaf, sugar, salt and pepper and marinade chicken in it for 30 minutes.

Add water, bring to boil and simmer for 45 to 50 minutes (till done). Drain and dry chicken (reserving sauce) and heat a wok and brown the chicken on all sides. Remove chicken and add reserved sauce to the wok and boil until the sauce thickens.

Return chicken to sauce and stir until chicken is well glazed.

Remove chicken and serve extra sauce at the table.

You can use pork shoulder instead of chicken, but it needs to cook longer, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.

My cookbook is well splattered on this page, which is always a good sign of a "must repeat" recipe. :-)