Adobo of Chicken and Pork
Four ingredients are essential in an adobo, one of the best-loved recipes in the Filipino repertoire, they are vinegar, garlic, peppercorns and bay leaves.
Ingredients
- 1 chicken, about 1.4kg / 3lb, or 4 chicken quarters
- 350g / 12oz pork leg steaks (with fat)
- 10ml / 2 tsp sugar
- 60ml / 4 tbsp sunflower oil
- 75ml / 5 tbsp wine or cider vinegar
- 4 plump garlic cloves, crushed
- ½ tsp black peppercorns, crushed lightly
- 15ml / 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 4 bay leaves
- 2.5ml / ½ tsp annatto seeds, soaked in 30ml / 2 tbsp boiling water, or 2.5ml / ½ tsp ground turmeric
- salt
For the plantain chips:
- 1-2 large plantains and/or 1 sweet potato
- vegetable oil, for deep frying
Preparation
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- Wipe the chicken and cut into eight even-size pieces, or halve the chicken quarters, if using. Cut the pork into neat pieces. Spread out all the meat on a board, sprinkle lightly with sugar and set aside.
- Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan and fry the chicken and pork pieces, in batches if necessary, until they are golden on both sides.
- Add the vinegar, garlic, peppercorns, soy sauce and bay leaves and stir well.
- Strain the annatto seed liquid and stir it into the pan or stir in the turmeric. Add salt to taste. Bring to the boil, cover, lower the heat and simmer for 30-35 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer for 10 minutes more.
- Meanwhile, prepare the plaintain chips. Heat the oil in a deep fryer to 195°C/390°F. Peel the plantains or sweet potato (or both), if you like, and slice them into rounds or chips. Deep fry them, in batches if necessary, until cooked but not brown. Drain on kitchen paper. When ready to serve, reheat the oil and fry the plantains or sweet potato until crisp — it will only take a few seconds. Drain. Spoon the adobo into a serving dish and serve with the chips.
COOK'S TIP
Sprinkling the chicken lightly with sugar turns the skin beautifully brown when fried, but do not have the oil too hot to begin with or they will over-brown.
Serves 4.