Chicken Adobo

The chicken adobo recipe that I use includes a step to brown the chicken. Being lazy, I have skipped this part and the dish still comes out pretty good. A couple of friends who make this dish a lot told me they sometimes skip browning step too. I particularly like this recipe because the chicken adobo doesn't come out as vinegary as some that I've had. I like the taste of vinegar but not to where it overwhelms the dish. I also like the addition of onions since I think it adds a nice flavor to the overall gravy.

Ingredients:
3 lbs chicken, cut to serving pieces*
5-6 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup vinegar
2 cups of water
1 teaspoon paprika
5 bay leaves
4 Tablespoons of cooking oil or olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Slurry Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons water
2 Tablespoons cornstarch

* Note: I like to remove the majority of the skin.

Instructions:
In a big sauce pan, heat 2 tablespoons of oil on medium heat and sauté the onions until soft (about 6 minutes). Add garlic and sauté for another 2 minutes. Be careful not to burn the garlic.

Add the chicken to the pan. Add water, soy sauce, vinegar, paprika and the bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until the chicken is tender.

Heat 2 tablespoon cooking oil in another pan. Add the chicken from the sauce pan and brown the chicken for a few minutes on all sides. Transfer the browned chicken back to the sauce pan.

Make the slurry by dissolving the cornstarch in water. Add the slurry to the sauce pan, stir thoroughly. Add salt and pepper to taste (I like to add fresh ground pepper but find no need for additional salt). Bring to a boil then simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

Remove the bay leaves before serving. Serve hot on plain rice.

As you can see in the picture, the chicken is very light in color, lighter than most adobo dishes I've gotten from take out restaurants. A few sprinkles of parsley or cilantro would have improved the presentation but it still tasted great. One of the variations of this recipe is to add half pork and half chicken. I have not tried it but it's simple to adjust. Just substitute half the chicken with pork and follow the recipe. I would think browning the pork would really add a whole new dimension in taste.

BTW, I've added pictures to the Dr. Pepper Pineapple Spare Ribs post. Instead of over rice, I served it over macaroni this last time. I enjoyed it even more with mac.

Have a good week. Now go and eat well.