Spiced Filipino Adobo with Chicken Recipe
Spiced chicken thighs cooked with earthy spices.
Servings 6 servings
Calories 233kcal
Ingredients
- 1 kilogram chicken thighs with skin and bones (2.2 lbs)
- 1 onion peeled and finely chopped
- 6 garlic cloves
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon fresh root ginger
- 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon coconut oil
- 80 millilitres white vine vinegar
- 80 milliliters dark soy sauce
- 250 millilitres chicken stock
Spice mix
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
Instructions
Spice Mix
- Place the ingredients listed under spice mix in a pestle and mortar and grind until the spices are reduced to well particles.
- Add the peeled garlic cloes and the ginger and beat to obtain a paste.
Cooking
- Use a heavy based pot or a wok and heat it on medium heat. Add the oil and the spice paste. Saute until the garlic and the ginger leave out their aroma.
- Toss in the chopped onion and the sugar, cook until the onions are translucent and start to caramelize.
- Add the chicken thighs and mix well making sure that the chicken is well coated with the spice mix.
- Pour the vinegar, soy sauce and the chicken stock in a measuring jug and add altogether on to the chicken thighs. Also put in the bay leaves. Cover the lid.
- First bring to boil over medium-high heat and then reduce heat to let simmer for about an hour, until the meat is tender and the stock has reduced.
- Check internal temperature of chicken thighs to reach 74° Celsius (165° F).
- Once the sauce is reduced it will have a sticky caramel texture.
- The sauce is tasty any way. If you want it to caramelize turn the heat higher to reduce the sauce.
- Serve warm.
Notes
You can use a pressure cooker and use it as a pressure cooker for the initial cooking and then just like a normal pot for letting it to simmer to reduce the stock. This way the total cooking time will be reduced to half an hour.
Substitutes:
- Dark brown sugar with muscovado or palm sugar or white sugar
- Dark soy sauce with all purpose soy sauce or coconut aminos
- Chicken stock with chicken tablet and water
- White vine vinegar with coconut vinegar or tamarind water and lemongrass
- You can replace chicken with vegetable chunks such as potatoes or butternut squash or tofu to turn this dish to a vegan version. Make sure to reduce cooking time according to your pick.