Adobo is the name of a popular dish and cooking process in Philippine cuisine that involves meat or seafood marinated in a sauce of vinegar and garlic, browned in oil, and simmered in the marinade.
Although it has a name taken from the Spanish, the cooking method is indigenous to the Philippines. When the Spanish conquered the Philippines in the late 16th century and early 17th century, they encountered an indigenous cooking process which involved stewing with vinegar, which they then referred to as adobo, which is the Spanish word for seasoning or marinade. Dishes prepared in this manner eventually came to be known by this name, with the original term for the dish now lost to history.
While the adobo dish and cooking process in Filipino cuisine and the general description adobo in Spanish cuisine share similar characteristics, they refer to different things with different cultural roots. While the Philippine adobo dish can be considered adobo in the Spanish sense—a marinated dish—the Philippine usage is much more specific. Typically, pork or chicken, or a combination of both, is slowly cooked in vinegar, crushed garlic, bay leaf, black peppercorns, and soy sauce then often browned in the oven or pan-fried afterward to get the desirable crisped edges.
Adobo has been called the quintessential Philippine stew, served with rice both at daily meals and at feasts. It is commonly packed for Filipino mountaineers and travelers because it keeps well without refrigeration. Its relatively long shelf-life is due to one of its primary ingredients, vinegar, which inhibits the growth of bacteria.
Outside of the home-cooked dish, the essence of adobo has been developed commercially and adapted to other foods. A number of successful local Philippine snack products usually mark their items "adobo flavored." This assortment includes, but is not limited to nuts, chips, noodle soups, and corn crackers.
Although Adobo is said to be the easiest Filipino Dish, I for one had qualms learning it for none of my family members can givee me a specific ratio of how much soy sauce to use per vinegar. Everyone has been saying that you would know if its enough or not (tantyahan lang). So, I persevered with Cordon Bleus and baking before finally, I saw from a posting of one of my FB friends, the Adobo that i like. Succulent looking with barely there sauce that gives you the look of an authentic Filipino Adobo.
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Photos by Sheryll Ann Deluz
Pork belly, with the rind (skin), is traditional for cooking adobo. If you have access to good quality pork, choose pork belly with the thinnest layer of fat. The marbled fat is what makes adobo what it is but there is no reason why you can’t cut down on the amount of fat. Other pork cuts may have even less fat but too little fat, or none at all, will affect the texture and quality of the cooked adobo.
Ingredients:
1/2 k. of pork belly, skin on
1 whole garlic, crushed
1/2 tbsp. of peppercorns, crushed
2 bay leaves
1/4 c. of vinegar
1/4 c. of vinegar
1/4 c. of soy sauce
1/2 c. of water
1/2 c. of water
finely chopped onion leaves
Procedure:
1. Place the pork cubes in a wide shallow pan, add the crushed garlic, crushed peppercorns and bay leaves Pour in the vinegar. Set the heat on high and bring to the boil without stirring.
2. Continue boiling, uncovered, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the pork starts to render fat.
3. Stir and cook until the edges of the pork start to brown.
4. With the heat still on high, pour in the soy sauce and about a half cup of water.
5. Bring to the boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer the adobo for an hour to an hour and a half or until the pork is very tender and the liquid considerably reduced.
6. To serve the adobo, transfer to a serving bowl, sprinkle the toasted garlic bits (optional) on top followed by the finely sliced onion leaves.
Tip: Add more water if you want it to have more sauce or blended chicken liver to have a thicker sauce.
PS: Thanks Liza B-V for sharing with me your recipe.
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