Chicken Adobo
The national argument in a pan: soy, vinegar, garlic and bay, reduced until the chicken goes glossy. Every family swears theirs is correct, and every family is right.
- Total time
- 19 min
- Serves
- 2
- Effort
- Easy
What you need
Written for 2 — nudge the counter and the numbers follow.
0 of 8 in the basket.
How you make it
Brown the chicken skin-side down in a dry pan over medium-high heat for 5 minutes until the fat renders and the skin is golden.
Add the garlic and peppercorns and stir for 1 minute, then pour in the soy sauce, vinegar, water, bay leaves and sugar.
Bring to a boil and let it bubble uncovered for 2 minutes without stirring, which cooks off the raw sharpness of the vinegar.
Reduce to a steady simmer, cover, and cook for 9 minutes, turning the chicken once, until it is cooked through to 75C at the thickest point with clear juices.
Uncover and boil hard for 2 to 3 minutes to reduce the sauce until it clings to the chicken rather than pooling.
Rest for a minute, discard the bay leaves, and serve over rice with the sauce spooned across.
Read all that and thought “absolutely not”?
Completely fair. Chicken Adobo is sitting in the Filipino kitchen right now, it costs nothing, and it will never arrive.
Order it insteadMore from the Filipino kitchen
Sweet, sour and salty, all turned up at once.