"ADOBO"
It is by far my favorite dish of all time.
What is ADOBO?
Adobo is an authentic Filipino dish.
Adobo in Spanish language means, "marinade". Unofficially, Adobo is considered as the "Filipino's National Dish". Filipinos have been cooking Adobo even before the Spanish colonized the Philippines. Spanish called it "Adobo" or marinade, because the dish is being marinated with vinegar, soy sauce, garlic and black pepper. But you can also cook it without marinating. Adding vinegar makes the dish lasts longer even without being refrigerated. It is best paired with rice.
The most used meat when cooking Adobo is pork, which is called Adobong Baboy or Pork Adobo and chicken, which is called Adobong Manok or Chicken Adobo. Some even cook Chicken and Pork Adobo. Others even add potatoes, carrots and boiled eggs.
Chicken and Pork Adobo
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But you can also use other meat like:
Beef or Adobong Baka
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Squid / Cuttlefish or Adobong Pusit
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Here are some variations of Adobo:
Duck or Adobong Itik
Goat or Adobong Kambing
Quail or Adobong Pugo
Shrimp or Adobong Hipon
There are even more exotic variations of Adobo which includes:
Snake or Adobong Sawa
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Frog or Adobong Palaka
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Liver and Gizzard or Adobong Atay at Balunbalunan
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Chicken Feet or Adobong Paa ng Manok
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And of course, for those who loves vegetables and fruits, there are also variations of Adobo using that. We have:
String Beans or Adobong Sitaw
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Water Spinach or Adobong Kangkong
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There are also other variations of Adobo. Some Filipinos doesn't always use soy sauce for the sauce, others cook it using coconut milk, which is called Adobong Gata. Others add turmeric, giving the dish a yellowish color and it is called, Adobo sa Dilaw.
Adobo sa Gata
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How I like my Adobo?
Now that I've already showed you different variations of Adobo, let me now talk about how I like it. After all, this is about "my favorite" right?
Everyone has different ways on how they cook their Adobo, others want to marinate it, others don't. Some wants too many sauce, others don't.
For me, I like my Adobo spicy. I don't want too many sauce in it. When I cook my Adobo, I let it simmer until the meat absorbs the sauce or broth. After that, I will fry it in cooking oil to be more flavorful.
When I was a kid, my Mom always cook Adobo. As a kid, I just always eat the sauce of the Adobo, it's so flavorful. And now that I can cook Adobo myself, I tend to cook for my family too.
Actually, Adobo is the first dish that I cooked. Now, I can cook different variations of Adobo.
Speaking of variations, there are too many variations of Adobo now, so far I have tried the chicken and pork adobo, string beans adobo, adobo sa dilaw at adobo sa gata. But my favorite is still the Chicken Adobo.
International Celebrities who loves Adobo
Knowing that some International Celebrities appreciates a Filipino dish, it is overwhelming and makes us even more proud to be a Filipino.
So, let me introduce some International Celebrities who got hooked in Adobo.
Drew Barrymore
She said in an interview that she had a lot of Filipino friends who cooked adobo for her..
Rob Schneider and Adam Sandler
Rob's Mom is a Filipina, that's why Adam Sandler, Rob's friend is no stranger in Filipino cuisine.
Zac Efron
When Zac Efron visited the Philippines to promote a local clothing line, he appeared on one TV Show. He was given a plate of Adobo, and just like a true Filipino, he ate it with his bare hands.
Meghan Markle
Meghan can cook her own Adobo. She even have her own recipe. She said that she grew up in L.A. where there's a lot of Filipino Community.
RECIPE:
For those who wants to try Adobo, let me share to you how I cook my Chicken Adobo. In this recipe, I am including potatoes and carrots. You can skip that part if you want to.
Ingredients:
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, chopped
1/2 kilo chicken
2 medium size potatoes
2 small size carrots
1/4 cup soy sauce
1pc bayleaf
3 tablespoons vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
Procedures:
- Fry the chopped carrots and potatoes until cooked. Set aside.
- Sauté garlic and onion until onion is transluscent. Then add the chicken, simmer for few a minutes.
- Add the soy sauce and simmer until the chicken meat is brownish bright in color. Then add the bayleaf.
- Add the vinegar and let simmer until the taste blends well. Then add salt and pepper to taste. You cab add the potatoes and carrots last because it's already cooked. Serve with rice.
As you can see, there are a lot of variations of Adobo, but no matter what variation it is, still, it will serve as the Filipino's National Dish.
Reference Links
- https://filipinotimes.net/food/2018/03/26/6-international-celebrities-love-adobo/
- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_adobo
That's all everyone! I hope you liked it.
Maybe if you have a Filipino friends, asked them if they can cook Adobo for you. 😉
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