Adobo Chicken
Adobo Chicken
I first made this dish for Katie when we started dating. I knew she had grown up in the Philippines and wanted to make her something special. This recipe is fun because the cooking steps are backwards from a traditional Filipino adobo recipe. In the Philippines, you typically fry the chicken first, then braise it in vinegar and soy. In this version, the chicken is braised first, then fried. The chicken retains a nice crispy skin, rather than soggy skin. It must have tasted okay because she (eventually) married me.
Servings
6-8
Prep time
1 hr 10 min
Ingredients
- 8 whole chicken legs (about 4 pounds), cut into drumstick and thigh sections
- 3 cups white vinegar
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ tablespoon whole black peppercorns, crushed lightly
- 1 ½ cups water
- 1 ¼ cups soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- Cooked rice
Preparation
In a large iron Dutch oven, combine the chicken, vinegar, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns and 1 ½ cups of water. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Add the soy sauce and simmer the mixture, covered, for another 20 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the chicken to a plate and boil the liquid for 10 minutes or until it is reduced to about 1 cup. Remove the bay leaves and skim the fat from the surface.
In a large cast iron skillet, heat the oil over high heat until it is hot but not smoking. Sauté the chicken in batches, turning it, for 5 minutes, or until it is browned well. Transfer the chicken to a rimmed platter, and pour the sauce over it, and serve with rice.
Note: This vinegar in this recipe could ruin the seasoning on your Dutch oven. Consider using a Dutch oven with an enamel interior. Le Creuset makes the best ones, but they can be pricey.
Source:
The Cast Iron Chef. © Copyright 2020 The Cast Iron Chef, Inc.
