Manok at Baboy na Adobo. As Seen on BuzzFeed UK Video
Braised Chicken and Pork in Soy Sauce & Vinegar
What is Adobo
The word ‘Adobo’ is a borrowed Spanish word ‘Adobar’ meaning to marinade. When the Spaniards came to the Philippines (according to the book ‘Memories of Philippine kitchens’ by Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan), a dish braised with soy sauce and vinegar already existed and they named the native dish Adobo because it resembled their Adobo.
There are many variations of Adobo now, it can be cooked with chicken, pork, beef, seafood or vegetables. Traditionally Adobo is cooked with salt and vinegar, later on, soy sauce was introduced by the growing communities of Chinese settlers in the Philippines who influenced the country’s cuisine. Before this, the brown colour came through the process of cooking. The Philippines is an archipelago, there are regional variations as well as each household and an individual’s own take on Adobo. There isn’t a right way to cook the classic soy & vinegar adobo, however due to Adobo becoming a trend I have seen some unusual ways of cooking this classic dish. For example adding sugar to the Adobo turns the dish into Humba, some popular celeb chefs added parsley too? Like why?
Here are some variations that I know of:
Adobong Puti – Braised Meat/Seafood/Vegetables in salt and sugar cane vinegar
Adobo sa Gata – Braised Meat/Seafood/Vegetables in coconut milk
Adobong Dilaw – Braised Meat/Seafood/Vegetables in salt, turmeric and vinegar
There are also modern takes on Adobo too! Here are some that I made:
Adobong Kangkong – water spinach or morning glory adobo
Adobo is one of the most popular Filipino dishes in the Philippines and outside too. There is a continual ongoing debate choosing between Adobo and Sinigang for which one should be the National dish of the Philippines. Are you Team Adobo or Team Sinigang?
Buzzfeed UK video
I participated in a Buzzfeed tasting video for their youtube Channel. We were asked to cook 3 dishes; Adobo, Pancit (noodles) and Cassava Cake (sweet manioc cake). There were 4 of us participating and each of us tasted each other’s food separately. For the Adobo tasting, I won! YAY!!! I was so happy that I won but gutted I didn’t win the other dishes. Haha! It’s okay though as I had a lovely day tasting delicious food and representing my cuisine in the UK.
This recipe is the winning Adobo recipe and I hope you enjoy this as much as we have. I have had many messages for the recipe as it’s an unusual meat combo. So here it is!
Ingredients
Instructions
Using a container with a lid, add pork and chicken. Pour soy sauce, vinegar, black pepper, half the garlic and all the bay leaves (I add bay leaves here because I always forget it). Mix them all together well and put the lid on. Leave it in the fridge to marinate for 2 hours or overnight.
In a medium size pot, heat some oil, add onions and rest of the garlic. Saute them for 2-3 minutes, next, add pork and cook for 15 minutes. Then add the chicken with the sauce and bring to a boil. Once boiling turn the heat to low and put the lid on. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.
After simmering, take the meat out of the pot leaving the sauce to reduce. To give your adobo a lot of depth and bold flavours, reduce the sauce for 10-15 minutes, place the cooked meat back into the pot and continue to cook for a few minutes while mixing them all together. Now it’s ready to eat, served with hot rice and some vegetables on the side.
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