A favorite dish to cook for my family and for visitors from abroad is chicken or pork adobo. Malay voyagers introduced the practice of using vinegar and salt as a preservative to extend the life of food in the tropical climate before the era of refrigeration. Vinegars are widely used in traditional Filipino recipes. Soy sauce was introduced noby Chinese traders and became very popular, replacing salt in some recipes. Filipinos traditionally cooked and stored food in clay pots called palayok.
There are regional and family variations to adobo such as adobo yellow (with turmeric), adobo sa gata (with coconut mild), adobong puti (without soy sauce), adobong Illongo (with achuete or annatto oil). Every visitor to the Philippines should be sure to experience at least one, and preferably more variations of this savory dish.
Preparation
Many Filipinos marinate the chicken or pork overnight. Sometimes I mix the chicken and pork.
Ingredients:
• 1 kg chicken or pork, cut in
pieces
• Quail eggs
• 2 onions
• 8 cloves garlic
• Green chili pepper
• 5 bay leaves
• 10-15 whole peppercorns
• 1 cup soy sauce
• ½ cup water
• ¼ cup Vinegar
Steps:
- Combine and cook all
ingredients except vinegar - After 40 minutes, add the
vinegar - Cook until tender
- Enjoy with rice
