Chicken adobo

  • 4
  • 1 hour 30 minutes plus 2-24 hours marinating time
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Adobo is a Filipino dish of stewed chicken or pork in a mixture of vinegar, garlic, bay leaves, black peppercorns and soy sauce. Although the word adobo is Spanish, the technique is purely Filipino. It’s a simple but unforgettable dish and sure to become a part of anyone’s weekly repertoire once they’ve cooked and tasted it. Some Filipinos prefer to let their adobo rest for a day before eating, to allow the Mizkan Shiragiku vinegar time to mellow. But, if you don’t have the willpower to resist digging in right away, no one is going to blame you.

First published in 2022

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Method

1

In a bowl, marinade the chicken with half the garlic, soy sauce, Mizkan Shiragiku vinegar and ground black pepper. Make sure the meat is fully submerged. Cover and leave in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours, and ideally overnight

2

In a wide, deep saucepan, heat up the vegetable oil and sauté the onion till translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the remaining 4 cloves of garlic and bay leaves then sauté for another minute or until the garlic is fragrant and slightly softened

3

Remove chicken from the marinade and pat dry, making sure to keep all the marinade aside

4

Add the chicken to the garlic and bay leaves and sauté till caramelised - this should take 10-15 minutes

5

Add the marinade and water to the pan, and bring it up to a simmer

  • 125g of water
6

Cover the pot and turn the heat down to low. Cook until the chicken is tender - this varies from 30 minutes to an hour

7

 If you want the adobo to be less soupy, remove the chicken from the adobo when it’s tender. Continue to cook the liquid over a high heat until it has reduced to your liking. The more the liquid has reduced though, the saltier it will be. Return the chicken to the pan to serve

8

Garnish the the adobo with red chilli and the chives, and serve immediately with a side of jasmine rice

First published in 2022

Since being blown away by a meal he enjoyed at The Fat Duck in 2009, Budgie Montoya has made it his mission to make people as happy as he felt that evening. Now, as one of the chefs at the forefront of London’s ever-evolving Filipino food scene, he’s doing exactly that.

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