When my foodie, chef, writer, eating buddy, food show host, Andrew Zimmern of Travel Channel’s “Bizarre Foods” told Today.com that Filipino food was going to be “the next big thing,” it was music to my ears! It’s the amazing food that I grew up on, from family recipes passed down over generations from my mom’s native islands of the Philippines, that I’ve been trying to share with the world!
My mom laughing at me cutting meat in uneven pieces, a no no in eyes of her Lola (Grandma)...
I’ve made Filipino inspired dishes (even Thanksgiving Turkey!) on the Today Show, our award winning restaurant Sunda serves several modernized Filipino dishes to thousands of foodies every week, and now I’m honored to share how you can easily make one of the most traditional and important dishes of our culture in your own home- Chicken & Pork Adobo!
Even though there are diverse Chinese, Spanish, Indonesian, American and Malaysian influences in food across the 7000+ islands in the Philippines, the indigenous recipe for Adobo is quite straight forward, and easy to cook. My mom’s Lola (grandma), elevated her approach by first buying live chickens to make sure it was as fresh as possible. She would then have the kids help her prepare the meal, being incredibly meticulous, making sure they cut the meat into pieces that were the exact same size. Cooking adobo was about pride, care, love, nurturing, sharing real comfort, and it still is today, which is why we eat it together as a family on Sundays.
Cooking Porkbelly/Proteins first in pan...
And as much as I love the traditional preparation, I also take great joy in evolving the experience in many different ways! At Sunda for instance, we’ll make Adobo shrimp, clams, tofu, beef, vegetables, tacos on Indian roti, porkbelly slabs on sticks, you name it! Once you have the basic recipe down below, you can sub in different kinds of meat, less fat, more fat, spice it up, put it on brown rice, on a sandwich, the options are endless… but first, enjoy the original! And please let me know how it goes! Send me pics! My handles are just my name @BillyDec for Twitter, Instagram & Facebook! Enjoy!
All ingredients finally coming together for 35 minutes...The final dish served on rice!
Chicken & Pork Adobo, Filipino Comfort Food, the “Next Big Thing!”
- Yield: 4-6 Servings
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cooking Time: 45 min
Ingredients
- Chicken (breast, thighs, wings and/or legs): 1 lb
- Pork (loin and/or belly): 1 lb
- Vegetable Oil: 2 tbsp
- Onion: 1 medium
- Garlic: 7 cloves
- Bay Leaves: 3 leaves
- Fresh Cracked Pepper or Peppercorn: 1 tsp
- Vinegar: ¾ cup
- Soy Sauce: ¼ cup
Preparation
- Cut up pork & chicken into big chunks. Cook in deep frying pan in 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, medium to high heat, 2 min on each side, or until golden brown all over.
- Remove proteins from pan, reduce heat to medium, add rest of oil and cook onions and garlic for 2-3 min, stirring until brown.
- Reduce heat to low/medium, return meat to pan, add rest of ingredients, mix all together, and let sit covered for 35 minutes, or until tender. Serve over rice.
Recipe Tags
This post comes from the TODAY Food Club community, where anyone can write posts, ask questions and share advice. Learn more and join us!
