Mom's Chicken Adobo

My mother, Teodora "Dory" Generao, is one of the best Filipino cooks around, and I'm not just saying that because she's my Mom.  You can ask ANYONE who has known our family, from Newport ... to Pearl Harbor .... to Seattle .... to Vallejo ... and everyone on both sides of our family in the Philippines.  When Mom says she's cooking, folks come from miles to attend her gatherings.  So, I decided that I'll share some of Mom's recipes from time to time so you folks can dine with us at our table, too.

My grandparents would love to see that family tradition continue here in America:  the sharing of our foods with friends across a table overlighted with great conversation and laughter.  Good times all around, eh?

Adobo is a traditional dish that developed as a result of the lack of ability to refrigerate.  It is a versatile dish and can also be made with yard-long green beans or beef cubes (just substitute lemon juice for the vinegar when using the green beans and/or beef).  If you combine everything together in the morning, your adobo will be perfect when you arrive home to cook dinner.  You don't need to refrigerate your dish, either while its marinating, or after it is cooked, because of the vinegar and garlic, which makes this dish perfect to take along to a picnic potluck.  Usually, you can use either pork cubed, chicken or a combination of both for your adobo, and it's a matter of taste.  If you still eat meat, a combination of chicken and pork (using country-style ribs) is quite tasty (and was my favorite way).  However, chicken adobo is really one of those tastes that evokes my memories of home in Mom's kitchen, hands down ... which is why this was the first dish I mastered when I first left home to attend UC Berkeley.  Just ask my compare' Jet Lacebal ... my adobo is how we overcame homesickness for our Moms' cooking during our first years at Cal.


Ingredients - Combined in a dutch oven pot:

2 lbs. chicken, cut into 2-inch pieces (Vegan substitute:  Seitan, cubed)
1/2 TBsp. whole black peppercorns
8 large cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 c. Soy Sauce
1/2 c. White Vinegar
1 c. water
2 Bay leaves
1 TBsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. Paprika (optional, from mother Maria Reyes' recipe)

1 onion, chopped (optional, Southern region variation)

Served with hot jasmine rice.

Combine all ingredients into the pot and allow it to marinate together for a minimum of 15 minutes.  The trick to a great adobo, however, is the length of time you allow your ingredients to marinate together: generally, the longer you marinate beyond 15 minutes, the better this dish is going to taste.  So, combine your ingredients the night before, or the morning of your planned adobo meal.  You can either leave the covered pot on the kitchen counter or in your refrigerator.

When you are ready to cook, place the pot with the lid still on and bring your ingredients to a boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally so nothing sticks to the bottom; crack the lid to allow the steam to escape.  You will see the marinade thicken and get a little sticky ... a wonderful taste experience when combined with steamed rice.

In fact, if you have leftovers (highly doubtful), you can create the most amazing fried rice as you "clean the pan".  This was something my brother and I always looked forward to the next meal time or brunch-time ... nothing beats adobo fried rice, maybe a few leftover pieces of adobo and fried eggs for breakfast!  Masarap!!  That means it's tasty good!  Enjoy!