I don’t have a drop of Filipino blood in my family, but my mom was an adventerous cook and I learned a lot growing up at her table. Her Filipino Chicken Adobo was a regular summer dish. She boiled the chicken for an hour or so, and then handed it off to my dad to grill just long enough to get a nice char on the outside (I have a sneaking suspicion it was more about letting him futz with the fire for an hour and keeping him out of the kitchen. Win-win.). This dish is pretty foolproof: marinade the meat, simmer until until it is fall-off-the-bone tender, then crisp the skin under the broiler.
Filipino Chicken Adobo 4 to 6 servings
½ cup white vinegar
½ cup soy sauce
5 cloves garlic, crushed
4 bay leaves
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken leg quarters or 8 thighs
• In a large pot, combine the vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaves and ½ teaspoon pepper and add the chicken pieces. Cover and refrigerate 1 to 3 hours.
• Gently bring the pot to boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and simmer 20 more minutes, until sauce begins reduce and thicken.
• Preheat the broiler.
• Remove the chicken from the pot and place it on a baking sheet. Broil the chicken until the skin is crispy. Remove to a serving plate.
• Remove and discard the bay leaves and garlic from the pot, then spoon the sauce over the chicken. Serve with rice.
This article appears in April 2015.