Jilly's Chicken Adobo

Jilly’s Chicken Adobo

July 18, 2011, 11:58 pm
Filed under: Cook, Drink | Tags: chicken, Filipino, mango, recipes, summer salads

In 2008, we had a rotating potluck going and it was Jilly’s turn to cook the main. I’d been craving Filipino food so I requested that she make chicken adobo because all Filipinos know how to make amazing chicken adobo, right? Riiight. All Filipinos know how to make amazing chicken adobo just like all Japanese are ninjas. That first stab at chicken adobo? Let’s just say it was… less than successful. Blame it on the fact that she used boneless skinless chicken breasts, or that she used full sodium soy sauce, or that she hadn’t yet learned what brining was. One diner actually asked, “Is this beef?”

Then one day, she posted this picture, and I knew she’d finally figured it out:

Two years, it took, but she finally perfected the recipe and when I begged her to let me try the new and improved version of her chicken adobo, she had me over for dinner. As I walked into the apartment, the aroma of garlic and ginger wafting through the air, the sound of the chicken sizzling in the pan, and the sight of my lovely hostess smiling at me… it all had me a little weak in the knees.

You’ve come a long way, baby.

Ingredients

• 3 lbs bone-in chicken legs (drumstick/thigh combos), brined overnight in solution of 1/4 cup salt + 1 gallon of water
• 8 large cloves of garlic, finely minced
• 1-inch piece of ginger, thinly sliced
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 3/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
• 3/4 cup white vinegar
• Coconut oil OR canola oil to fry chicken

Preparation (as written by Jilly)

1. After brining chicken for 24 hours, remove and let sit in a bowl for 1 hour (to let the water soak into the chicken and away from the skin…we want crispy skin!)
2. Marinate chicken for 1 hour in all of the above ingredients (minus the brine, of course) in a large pot
3. Begin cooking; let simmer and stir regularly until chicken appears cooked, opaque and white. Turn off heat.
4. Have a frying pan ready with oil, preheated till oil is shimmering (supa dupa hot)
5. Begin frying chicken in batches as pan allows–this will be messy, but worth it! If possible, a brave soul with long arms (and long sleeves) should be the one doing this step
• Fry till crispy, golden, and brown.
• As each piece is perfectly fried, put it back into the pot with the soy/vinegar/garlic mixture
6. When done frying, cook the chicken back up in the soy mixture, and simmer until mixture is thick and chicken is cooked through (the poke-with-a-knife test, etc.)
• Jill likes to add a teaspoon of sugar in there as it simmers at this step to make it a little richer and caramelized-ish

Recommended wine pairing: 2008 Pfaffenheim Pinot Blanc d’Alsace.

Grape: 100% Pinot Blanc
Region: Pfaffenheim (Alsace), France.
Notes: 100 growers created a co-operative called ‘The winegrowers of Pfaffenheim’, whose grapes are never sold outside of the Co-op. Several Grand Cru vineyards. 2010 is the first year these wines are sold in the U.S.Description: Beautiful golden-yellow color with clean aromas of peach and apricots. The palate is surprisingly dry for such intense aromas and richness. Lovely minerality and starfruit character that yields to red plum on the finish.

Serve with mango salad:

• 3 Jersey tomatoes OR 4-5 plum tomatoes, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1/2 red onion, also diced
• 1 mango, diced (use a firm mango to avoid smushiness..we like crisp!)
• as much or as little cilantro as you’d like, finely chopped
• dash of white vinegar, to taste
• dash of soy or fish sauce, to taste
• squeezed 1/2 lime or 1/4 lemon
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar

Dice it up and throw it all together.

To balance it all out with a starch, I like garlic rice, although any rice will do. For garlic rice, just take a crapload of minced garlic and saute it in a crapload of butter before stirring in cooked white rice (I like it kinda mushy). Nom.

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