Adobo

CHICKEN AND MARINADE

750g / 1.5 lb chicken thigh fillets , boneless and skinless (5 - 6 pieces) (Note 1)
3 garlic cloves , minced
1/3 cup (85ml) soy sauce , ordinary all purpose or light (not dark soy sauce, Note 2)
1/3 cup + 2 tbsp white vinegar
4 bay leaves (fresh) or 3 dried

FOR COOKING

2 tbsp oil , separated (vegetable, canola or peanut)
3 garlic cloves , minced
1 small brown onion , diced
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) water
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp whole black pepper (sub 2 tsp coarse cracked pepper)

SERVING:

2 green onions/scallions , sliced (garnish)

Recipe

Combine Chicken and Marinade ingredients in a bowl. Marinate for at least 20 minutes, or up to overnight.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a skillet over high heat. Remove chicken from marinade (reserve marinade) and place in the pan. Sear both sides until browned – about 1 minute on each side. Do not cook the chicken all the way through.
Remove chicken skillet and set aside.
Heat the remaining oil in skillet. Add garlic and onion, cook 1 1/2 minutes.
Add the reserved marinade, water, sugar and black pepper. Bring it to a simmer then turn heat down to medium high. Simmer 5 minutes.
Add chicken smooth side down. Simmer uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes (no need to stir), turning chicken at around 15 minutes, until the sauce reduces down to a thick jam-like syrup.
If the sauce isn't thick enough, remove chicken onto a plate and let the sauce simmer by itself - it will thicken much quicker - then return chicken to the skillet to coat in the glaze.
Coat chicken in glaze then serve over rice. Pictured in post as a healthy dinner plate (415 calories) with cauliflower rice and Ginger Smashed Cucumbers.

History

The word adobo is derived from the Spanish word adobar, which means “marinade” or “pickling sauce.” The existence of the tangy dish was first recorded in 1613 by the Spaniard Pedro de San Buenaventura.

In the dictionary he was compiling, Buenaventura listed the tart viand as “adobo de los naturales” for its similarity to Spanish and Mexican dishes that went by the same name. But while our favorite ulam’s moniker boasts of a pure Spanish lineage, little else about our adobo can and should be attributed to our Hispanic conquerors. According to the food historian Raymond Sokolov, the ingredients for adobo already existed in the Philippines before Ferdinand Magellan even laid eyes on our shores. Because the dish’s original name was never recorded (and in a case of what Sakolov calls “lexical imperialism”), the Spanish label stuck.