Filipino Chicken Adobo with Garlic & Bay

Name: Filipino Chicken Adobo with Garlic & Bay
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Filipino
Ingredients: 2½ lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, halved; ⅓ cup soy sauce; 10 garlic cloves, crushed; 2 cups jasmine rice; 2 green onions, sliced; ⅓ cup white or cane vinegar; 2 tbsp oil; 1 tbsp brown sugar; 1 tsp whole black peppercorns; 3 dried bay leaves; salt

DinnerFilipino60 minServes 4775 kcal64 g protein

Photo: Joy D. Ganaden · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

The Philippines' national dish: chicken thighs braised in soy, vinegar, a whole head's worth of garlic and bay leaves until the sauce turns glossy, tangy and deeply savory. Spoon it over plenty of rice.

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Ingredients

2½ lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, halved
⅓ cup soy sauce
10 garlic cloves, crushed
2 cups jasmine rice
2 green onions, sliced

From your pantry: ⅓ cup white or cane vinegar, 2 tbsp oil, 1 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tsp whole black peppercorns, 3 dried bay leaves, salt.

Instructions

Toss the chicken with the soy sauce and crushed garlic in a bowl and let it sit for 20 to 30 minutes (or up to overnight in the fridge). Start the rice.
Lift the chicken out of the marinade, fish out the garlic and keep both. Heat the oil in a wide heavy pot over medium-high and brown the chicken in two batches, about 2 minutes per side. Set aside.
Lower the heat to medium, fry the reserved garlic until just golden, 1 minute, then return the chicken with the marinade, peppercorns, bay leaves and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 25 minutes.
Pour in the vinegar and let it boil for a minute without stirring so its sharp edge cooks off. Then stir, uncover and simmer until the sauce reduces by about half and coats the chicken, 12 to 15 minutes.
Stir in the brown sugar, taste for salt, and serve over rice with green onions and lots of the sauce.

Tip: Not stirring right after the vinegar goes in is the classic Filipino trick: it keeps the sauce tangy without tasting raw. For a crisp finish, pull the cooked chicken out and sear it in a hot pan for 2 minutes before returning it to the sauce.