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| Filipino Chicken Adobo Rice |
I've mentioned before that I'm have Filipino but am pretty ignorant about Filipino food. My mom never learned to cook much Filipino food and so the only things I can even remember her making are lumpia, pancit, and adobo.
Filipino food is definitely its own thing. Being situated in southeast Asia and made up of over 7,000 islands, it has often been the stomping ground of invaders. Thus the influences over the centuries include Chinese, Japanese, Spaniards, Americans, and others. All of these influences mish-mash together to create unique dishes - the true example of fusion cooking.
One notable flavor trait of Filipino cooking is their mix of salt/sour. Adobo is a perfect example. Adobo is considered the national dish of the Philippines. It is usually made with either pork or chicken. I prefer the chicken, and it's important that you use chicken thighs, not breasts. The breasts will be too dry.
The primary ingredients for the marinade are vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and pepper. The normal method calls for marinating, then simmering the meat in it to cook, remove the meat and boil down the sauce to make it even more potent, and fry the meat to give it a bit of crispiness. Then serve it all over rice.
I'm changing it up a bit in this version. After removing the chicken we toss in rice to cook in the sauce and then at the end throw in the chicken, now shredded. Your finished product is a nice, potent chicken and rice dish. No more fighting over the adobo sauce. I suppose you could throw the rice in from the start, but part of the beauty of adobo is the slow cooking of the meat in the marinade. The meat really takes on the flavor of the sauce.
Note: Cooking times can vary depending on slow cookers.
Chicken Adobo Rice
1 lb. chicken thighs
1/3 c vinegar
2 T soy sauce
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small bay leaf
¼ t pepper
½ c water
3/4 c rice
3/4 c rice
Remove the skins and trim any fat from the chicken thighs. Place in slow cooker.
Mix together remaining ingredients except for the rice and pour into cooker. Cook on low for 6 hours. (Mine was on while I was at work, so over 8 hrs.)
Remove the chicken breasts and set aside. Add rice to the sauce in the cooker. Cook on high for 1 hour or until rice is cooked. Remove chicken from the bone and shred. Toss with cooked rice mixture. Serve.
Chicken Thigh
