The Most Delicious Chicken Dish in the World...

Pin It ... As some have described, according to Mark Bittman in How to Cook Everything.  Arguably, the ubiquitous adobo may very well be the national dish of the Philippines.  The dish is undoubtedly a hand me down from the 300 something years of Spanish colonization, but we have taken it as our own.  For years, I have been trying to perfect this and I've finally come up with my own version that I LOVE!  As my husband so eloquently put it, "This is good... stuff (let's just say the actual word is acceptable only on cable TV)".  Hey, this is New York.

For the unfamiliar, there are only two basic ingredients to make this dish:  garlic and vinegar.  The list of proteins or vegetables that will be cooked in it is pretty much endless.  Based on my observation, pork and chicken are the most popular.  In fact, the combination of the two has been aptly nicknamed CPA (chicken-pork adobo).  One of my favorites is our nanny's pork and my grandmother's squid adobo made with its ink.  Each region in the country will have its own version of the dish.  I grew up with meat adobo that is also braised in soy sauce.  I use Filipino soy sauce (Marca Pina or Silver Swan) because it just isn't the same without it.  Filipino soy sauce is probably somewhere between the darker Chinese sauce like La Choy and the lighter Japanese Kikkoman.  I would probably prefer Kikkoman if I couldn't get the Filipino soy sauce.

Given that there are so few ingredients, it is important to get those few steps right.  For instance, while you would often hear that the garlic should NOT be browned in Western cooking, the flavor of the adobo will not be the same if the garlic is not browned.  We Filipinos love our toasted garlic. Also, traditionally, a meat adobo is braised in the liquid, fried to give it some crunch, then placed back into the sauce. How can you not love this dish???  However, again, in an effort to achieve the same flavors but make it a little bit healthier, I have changed the steps around using some of the techniques I've seen on all those Food Network shows.


So, here's my version of the best chicken dish I've ever made:

4 chicken thighs (Got them on sale for 99 cents a pound!)
5 cloves of garlic, minced (It is a lot, but that's how we roll.)
soy sauce
white vinegar
water
fresh black pepper
one bay leaf (optional--I do opt out of this, but some people like it.)

So instead of frying as the last step, I rendered out the fat from the chicken skin first before braising. In an oven-safe sautee pan, heat a little bit of canola oil over medium high, just enough so the chicken will not stick to the pan (You don't need a lot as the thigh has a lot of its own fat).  When the oil is hot enough, put the chicken, skin side down, into the oil.  Turn the chicken over once the skin is golden brown.  Remove the chicken from the pan once the other side is slightly browned and set aside.  (Although the next step is heart-breaking for me, it is necessary to make the dish slightly healthier).  Spoon out and discard the rendered fat from the pan, leaving just enough to sautee the garlic in.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.  In the same pan, brown the garlic (make sure it's brown, not burnt).  Add one part vinegar to two parts soy sauce once garlic is browned (I just use a cooking spoon to measure these. The liquid should not cover the chicken skin that you just crisped up.).  Let the mixture boil without stirring (very important as the vinegar won't cook--I don't know the scientific explanation but it seems to be true!).  Reduce to a simmer and taste.  If it's too salty, which it will likely be, add some water (about 2 parts for me). Add the chicken back, skin side up.  Season with a lot of black pepper.  Simmer, uncovered, for about 15 minutes. Add more water if the liquid starts to dry out.  Put the pan in the oven for about 20 minutes to finish cooking.  The chicken is done if juices run clear when poked with a knife.  Serve over rice and enjoy!

Note:  This version actually also has slightly reduced sodium.  The original recipe from our nanny required 3 parts soy sauce to 1 part vinegar.  But because of the simmering and finishing in the oven in this case, the soy sauce becomes so concentrated that you don't need as much.  So don't worry if you initially add too much water and you seem to have diluted the flavor.  Also, this dish keeps so well and is also better as a leftover.  We Filipinos love to have it for breakfast over garlic fried rice and egg.