My First Adobo

Close friends and family have always known I love food: cooking, eating, talking and dreaming about it. As much as I have been cooking since at least 11 years old, I've never really mastered the art of Filipino cooking. You see, if it's not the crunchy/ crispy sort like chicharon, crispy pata, lechon kawali and bagnet, I would not crave for Pinoy food at all.

When I was living abroad, the closest to Filipino food I prepared were frying the dried seafood my mom sent (danggit etc.), preparing instant champorado, and grilled Liempo. My single attempt at making adobo was a catastrophe as I didn't have the right soy sauce - it was too thick that I was not pleased with the consistency of the sauce, I never bothered again.

Since 2004, one project I've always wanted to do was to learn how to prepare Filipino dishes I'm content with. I have several Filipino cookbooks from Mommy and Tatay but never I cooked from them. I admit, I've never really religously followed a recipe (maybe that's why I never bothered to bake). I just read for inspiration and cook based on what I have in the kitchen. Despite all the cookbooks and cooking shows, cooking is more of a learning-by-doing thing.

So I enlisted my mom's lunchtime last weekend to teach me how to cook Adobo. All I needed were two pans (for the boiling and frying), soy sauce, vinegar, water, salt, pepper, and of course, chicken. It would probably be better with bay leaves, but I assure you, it's the manner of cooking that makes a difference in the taste.

We just marinated the chicken with all the ingredients for awhile, and left it to boil until the room was filled with the acid smell of vinegar. Do not stir. Once the smell is gone, we lowered the fire until the chicken was tender. Just dry the chicken through a strainer and fry on high heat. This is my chance to shred some pieces. Once fried, add the sauce in batches. Eventually, the oil is supposed to form a frame around the edge of the pan with the runny brown sauce surrounding the meat.

I tried it the other night and I was just slightly pleased with my version but I think I'm one step away from my mom's adobo, which is my benchmark. :) One more try, then I move on to Sinigang.