Cookbook talk:Adobo Chicken (Philippine)

An alternative: My experience of traditional Filipino Adobo has been that it does not contain either potato, apple cider vinegar or blackbean paste. Agreed, any meat (whether chicken or pork or a combination of both) for Adobo should always contain bones, but authentic Tagalog adobo is prepared with Datu Puti (a form of white rice-wine vinegar) - the flavour is softer than regular vinegar - (use 1 cup Datu Puti and 1 cup water), add a splash of soy (for colour) and the same amount of fish sauce, several cloves of garlic, bay leaves and black pepper corns. No need to brown meat first. Just put all in a saucepan, cover and simmer gently until the liquid is reduced by half. Remove the meat and garlic (save the liquid) and fry gently until it's brown and crispy on the outside. Pour juices over the meat and serve with steamed rice. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 211.29.7.207 (talk • contribs).

I totally agree that traditional Philippine adobo does not contain either potatoes or blackbean paste -- I wonder what region in the Philippines the author came from. I grew up in Manila eating adobo, and my Mom is a fantastic cook, and have never ever eaten (or cooked) adobo with potatoes and black bean sauce! I find apple cider vinegar too strong, so I normally use a lighter variety - if you can't find Datu Puti, you may dilute the apple cider vinegar with a bit of water. I also like to add a teaspoon or so of a good white wine, for added flavor. To comment on using 1 cup vinegar and 1 cup water: that sounds like too much -- you might end up have adobo soup, unless you're using tons of meat. Also, some people prefer dry adobo, which is achieved by frying the meat in a little oil after it has been tenderized by simmering and not adding back the simmer sauce; or a wetter version, when you add back some or all of the simmer sauce after frying the meat. Serve with plenty of steaming white rice. Yum! [ChefMom]

Adobo in the Philippines is surely masarap(delicious)Morphine54 (talk) 03:58, 2 December 2010 (UTC)

"Datu Puti" is not a type of vinegar, but a brand name of vinegars (they make several types) commonly available in the Philippines. Generally, household vinegars are 5% acidity (4% for Japanese rice vinegar), and in my family, we have always used a 50/50 mix of 5% vinegar to Kikkoman koikuchi shoyu. Patis has always been optional in my house, but always Rufina from Malabon, Metro Manila, when we use it. These days, I use Datu Puti Premium Cane Vinegar, since it is easily available now in the US, or sometimes I like to use Datu Puti's Sukang Iloco for an interesting flavor. Try different vinegars for different flavors! There is more than one suka (vinegar) in the world!

There are as many styles of adobo as there are Filipino cooks! Some prefer adobong puti (white adobo, made with salt instead of soy sauce or patis), some prefer it made with patis, some prefer it made with soy sauce. Some like it dry, some like it soupy (the tradition in my house, which I am told is common to the Manila region), some like it browned, some don't. Some like it "sa gata" (with coconut milk), and some don't. Some like it with a touch of sugar or fruit added, some like it with a bit of siling (hot pepper), or an onion in the pot. Personally, I make it different ways on different days, depending on my mood or the mood of my family.

I must say, though, that the recipe page as it stands right now calls for a very small amount of garlic, only four cloves, and I have always used an entire head (about 12 cloves) for that much chicken. 6-8 pieces is a whole chicken. Otherwise the current recipe has good proportions: 1/3 c. vinegar to 1/4 c. soy sauce, 1-2 bay leaves, 1/2 tsp. peppercorns. That's a good recipe, although in my family, we'd just simmer it until the chicken falls off the bone, and eat it just like that, with lots of sauce to pour over our rice. I must have missed the potatoes and black bean sauce version. LOL

Romy Dorotan, chef of Cendrillon and Purple Yam in New York City, recommends apple cider vinegar for pork adobo, and I very much agree that this works very well. All I know is, my father used to tell everyone I made the best adobo ever. Kind of embarrassing in front of the Filipino family, but everyone likes my cooking, so maybe he's right. I've never met a person that disliked my adobo. In fact, invariably, people rave about it. I like to serve it with roasted pineapple and steamed long grain white rice. [Gemma Seymour-Amper]