Adobo is a Filipino dish where chicken is simmered slowly in a rich marinade of soy sauce and vinegar alongside aromatics like garlic, chilli and black peppercorns.
Ingredients
HANDS-ON TIME: 15 minutes
COOK TIME: 55 minutes
SERVES: 4
EQUIPMENT: casserole with lid
- 1kg chicken pieces, bone-in (such as thighs and drumsticks)
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 10 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole
- 1 green chilli, halved lengthways
- 125ml white wine vinegar
- 100ml reduced salt soy sauce
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp soft light brown sugar or palm sugar
- Sea salt and black pepper
- Steamed rice, to serve
- Finely shredded spring onions, to serve
Method
- Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a casserole over a medium-high heat and brown all over. Remove and set aside.
- Add the garlic cloves, chilli, vinegar, soy sauce and 80ml of water to the casserole along with the black peppercorns, bay leaves and sugar and bubble together for 1 minute.
- Return the chicken to the casserole, cover with a lid and simmer very gently for 45 minutes until the chicken is tender. Remove the chicken, increase the heat and bubble the sauce away until it coats the back of a spoon.
- Return the chicken to the sauce. Serve with steamed rice and garnish with the spring onions.
Cook's Notes:
Adobo is a Filipino dish where chicken is simmered slowly in a rich marinade of soy sauce and vinegar alongside aromatics like garlic, chilli and black peppercorns.
The result is chicken pieces that are tender and infused with a sticky, rich sauce. Palm sugar is an ingredient worth sourcing; its rich, toffee sweetness will add depth to a dish like this.
