The Filipino Adobo Recipe You Need
What is the best Filipino Recipe? When one hears the mention of Filipino food, two dishes may come to mind: Adobo and Lumpia. Adobo is the widely accepted national dish and calls back to my childhood. There are few things in my life that are more heartwarming than an unassuming bowl of white rice and adobo. It is low cost, low effort, and delicious.
You know when you go to a pot luck at work or somewhere and someone tells you the food they made only took 15-minutes and no effort, and you pretend to be amazed, but in your head you are like, “yes, I can tell you put no effort into this”. Well this is like that, but completely different in that it actually comes out much better than the effort would make you think.
Side note - Adobo is always with white rice, no exceptions...That is until I hit a certain age and my body decided that white rice needed to immediately be processed and stored as fat. It is simple science: Age + Anything Good = Fat Retention. In recent years I have transitioned to a satisfying blend of 50% jasmine rice and 50% quinoa, It does it’s job - tangent complete.
The Perfect Filipino Adobo
Keep in mind, that this recipe is a guideline. There is no need to breakout the beakers and food scales here. Use your best judgement, and use what you have. If you don’t have Cane Vinegar, basically any vinegar will do just fine. I have made this recipe with cheap white vinegar from a jug and leftover soy sauce packets from chinese takeout, and it came out great!
I certainly have a preference for the ingredients that I have listed, but if I run out, it is not a big deal. Al Pacino’s line about the tango in scent of a woman very much applies to cooking and life in general: “No mistakes in the tango, Donna. Not like life. It's simple, that's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, get all tangled up, just tango on.”
There are no mistakes, Adobo on my friends.
My family’s traditional style of adobo is not quite what you will find on other sites, which call for a reduction of the sauce into a what is a viscous syrup-y glaze. We ain’t got no time for that and there is never enough sauce leftover to swamp the rice! Don’t get me wrong, if you are cooking for a smaller group and have time, the reduction version is quite nice. Our version leaves the sauce much more liquid-y, and much more friendly to flavoring a bowl full of rice.
When it comes to ingredients, your standard adobo is quite simple and you really can adobo anything...begrudgingly skips Bubba from Forrest Gump-esque rant about things you can adobo… My family, and I imagine most filipino-american families recipes, use 2 key proteins - Pork and Chicken. Do Not use lean proteins, it will not be good and you are wrong if you braise these cuts of meat in general (sous vide is good for these). Who has ever had a braised pork tenderloin and didn’t think: wow this could not be more crumbly and dry! I mean go for it if that is your thing and you are a psychopath, no judgment here.
Use pork butt, belly, or shoulder cut into about 2-inch cubes and use dark meat chicken. You want and need to embrace that fat, it will significantly up the satisfaction of eating the dish. If you are trying to stick to a diet, cut on carbs side of this dish. For the love of God please don’t take away those fatty meats! Maybe go keto or one of the new fangled diets whose propaganda pushes fats. I’m not a nutritionist, just a foodie.
The remaining ingredients are: vinegar, soy sauce, bay leaves, and unlimited garlic. If you are feeling fancy you can throw some shallots in there. If you are feeling spicy feel free to squirt some sriracha (this is not standard practice, but you do you).
Optional Accoutrements: Hard boiled eggs, Atchara, Quick tomato salad, jicama salad, even just raw sliced tomatoes! Anything sweet or acidic to counterbalance the salty, savory, richness of the dish.
Ingredients (Links may be Affiliate Links):
4 Chicken Thighs
2 pounds of Pork Butt (or pork belly if you are feeling like something special)
4 cloves of garlic -diced
1 Small Shallot - diced (Optional)
¾ cup vinegar (I prefer Filipino Cane Vinegar)
2 Tablespoons mushroom soy sauce - note: this stuff is powerful, so don’t get heavy-handed on it if not measuring.
½ cup regular soy sauce
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
optional - 1 tablespoon of Sambal(chili garlic sauce), this is purely something I do when we feel like something spicy. One could also throw Siracha on at the end. Adding spice this way isn’t typical from my experience, but no rules in this kitchen. You do you boo!
Instructions:
Heat oil on medium-low
Salt and pepper meats
Chop garlic and shallot into small dices
Sear all meats in batches - do not overcrowd the pan and let that surface temperature drop. The Maillard effect is your friend, don’t suffocate the pan!
Once all meats are seared (around 5 minutes per uncooked surface), set aside and drop in the garlic sweat on medium low.
Once garlic has browned (not burned!) add all the liquids to deglaze
Add the meats back and bring to a boil
After boil, bring back down to a simmer for 20 minutes (check with a fork for the tenderness you are looking for)
Dark Meat Chicken should be done in a little over 20 minutes and will be fall apart around 30
Pork should gain braised perfection at around 30 minutes and fall apart around 40 minutes
If doing both meats together, keep the above cook times in mind and get the pork cooking first
Remove meat and reduce the pan liquids to the consistency that you want, I like to get close to a syrup
This step is completely up to you, and may be dependent on how many people are eating. I love the broth that is made and it can flavor a lot of rice if left on the thin side. If I am cooking enough for one night, plus maybe one leftover meal I prefer the reduced down version. It is so much more rich. the picture in this post shows this.
