Saturday, June 19, 2010

Chicken Adobo!

I was watching Channel News Asia's Taste Matters when I saw this dish prepared in the program. For no reason, I got little excited...and decided I have to give it a try. I searched for information & various recipes of Chicken Adobo and found so many varieties of them. Apparently, each & every island & even household have their own recipe for this aromatic dish. It's suppose to be salty & sour, a refreshing combination suited for people who have not much of an appetite due to the unforgiving hot weather. I did a comparison and settled with 2 recipes in designerjones.com & Youtube (real funny man, must watch) as references while I re-create this Filipino dish. If you want to join me, let's start!

1 kg of of chicken pieces (chop whole chicken or purchase chicken thighs)
2 cloves of garlic (chopped, not too finely)
15 tablespoons of light soy sauce
9 tablespoons of white vinegar (which is adjustable to personal preference)

Marinate the above overnight.
When you are ready to cook, put the chicken together with the marinate into a wok/pot, add and pour
3 to 4 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
1/2 teaspoon of black peppercorn and
1 can of 7-up or Sprite.

Bring the above to boil, do not stir the mixture. Once it boils, lower down the heat & simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. You can flip the chicken at half-time. Add a little water if the sauce is reduced.

After simmering, remove the chicken & strain the sauce using a strainer.
After rinsing the wok/pot with water, heat up some oil and stir fry the solid ingredients that was previously separated from the sauce. Please be careful, do not burn them or let them get stuck to the bottom of the wok/pot or your dish will taste burnt and you have a "great time" washing up later.
When the garlic turns golden brown, lower the heat and put the chicken back in & fry for a few minutes.
Remove excess oil, let stir fry cool slightly before adding your sauce back in.
Bring it to boil. Once it starts boiling, you are done!
Serve the chicken on crisp salad lettuce with your steaming rice, you may like to sprinkle some finely chopped coriander leaves on the chicken, throw in some halved honey cherry tomatoes & finally a sweet banana to complete the plate & it's time to feast!

My first attempt was alright, my sisters reviewed that it is nice but they gave the addition of the banana a miss, I personally loved the how the sweetness of the banana provide a balance to the salty-with-a-tinge-of-sour-ness chicken dish. However I have to confess, I made it too salty with the additional teaspoon of salt I added as the recipe mentioned. My bad, I noted & already removed it from the above recipe. Overall, a lovely dish (my sisters asked for my recipe. Kekeke...) and I'll surely perfect this dish in time.

I now wish you luck, happy feasting!

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Chicken Adobo!

I was watching Channel News Asia's Taste Matters when I saw this dish prepared in the program. For no reason, I got little excited...and decided I have to give it a try. I searched for information & various recipes of Chicken Adobo and found so many varieties of them. Apparently, each & every island & even household have their own recipe for this aromatic dish. It's suppose to be salty & sour, a refreshing combination suited for people who have not much of an appetite due to the unforgiving hot weather. I did a comparison and settled with 2 recipes in designerjones.com & Youtube (real funny man, must watch) as references while I re-create this Filipino dish. If you want to join me, let's start!

1 kg of of chicken pieces (chop whole chicken or purchase chicken thighs)
2 cloves of garlic (chopped, not too finely)
15 tablespoons of light soy sauce
9 tablespoons of white vinegar (which is adjustable to personal preference)

Marinate the above overnight.
When you are ready to cook, put the chicken together with the marinate into a wok/pot, add and pour
3 to 4 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
1/2 teaspoon of black peppercorn and
1 can of 7-up or Sprite.

Bring the above to boil, do not stir the mixture. Once it boils, lower down the heat & simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. You can flip the chicken at half-time. Add a little water if the sauce is reduced.

After simmering, remove the chicken & strain the sauce using a strainer.
After rinsing the wok/pot with water, heat up some oil and stir fry the solid ingredients that was previously separated from the sauce. Please be careful, do not burn them or let them get stuck to the bottom of the wok/pot or your dish will taste burnt and you have a "great time" washing up later.
When the garlic turns golden brown, lower the heat and put the chicken back in & fry for a few minutes.
Remove excess oil, let stir fry cool slightly before adding your sauce back in.
Bring it to boil. Once it starts boiling, you are done!
Serve the chicken on crisp salad lettuce with your steaming rice, you may like to sprinkle some finely chopped coriander leaves on the chicken, throw in some halved honey cherry tomatoes & finally a sweet banana to complete the plate & it's time to feast!

My first attempt was alright, my sisters reviewed that it is nice but they gave the addition of the banana a miss, I personally loved the how the sweetness of the banana provide a balance to the salty-with-a-tinge-of-sour-ness chicken dish. However I have to confess, I made it too salty with the additional teaspoon of salt I added as the recipe mentioned. My bad, I noted & already removed it from the above recipe. Overall, a lovely dish (my sisters asked for my recipe. Kekeke...) and I'll surely perfect this dish in time.

I now wish you luck, happy feasting!