Desiree's Adobo

Okay, I was recently obsessed with adobo. (My mom makes adobo chicken with a recipe pretty well as the original adobo recipe on VanEats) One of the things I ended up fiddling with was the vinegar. My brother Jo lives close to a Filipino grocery store, and he ran over and picked me up a bottle of "natural" vinegar. This vinegar definitely makes a big difference in the taste of adobo, and I recommend it if you're close to an Asian grocery.

I also add chopped onions (which isn't purist, but I like the taste), and sometimes dried chestnuts (which you have to soak overnight first).

This is the most recent iteration of chicken adobo:

A.

1/4 cup Soy sauce

1/3 cup "natural" vinegar

1 tbsp palm sugar (or brown sugar if you can't find it)

1/4 tsp/1 mL Peppercorns, coarsely ground or crushed

2 bay leaves

1/4 cup water

2 tbsp/25 mL Vegetable oil

half head garlic -- 3 cloves minced, rest in peeled cloves

2-1/2 lb/1.25 kg Chicken thighs (about 8)

3 Onions, chopped

chestnuts, soaked overnight

1. Put (A.) vinegar, soy sauce, bay leaves, pepper, and water in a saucepan. Cover and cook slowly about 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat the cooking oil in a Dutch oven. Brown peeled garlic cloves over medium-low heat (about 5 minutes). Transfer to plate.

3. Brown chicken in batches. Transfer to plate.

4. Drain off any fat from pan. Add onions and minced garlic; cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, for 10 minutes or until softened and golden.

5. Add warmed stuff from saucepan (A.) to Dutch oven. Add browned garlic and chestnuts.

6. Cover and cook over medium-low heat, turning chicken once. Check at 20 minutes, and then at 5 minute intervals up to 40 minutes or until juices run clear when chicken is pierced.

Contributed by Desiree Sy