Simple Filipino Chicken Adobo | Kenji's Cooking Show

Here's my basic recipe:

2-3 (900 to 1350g) pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and drumsticks
Kosher salt
1-2 tablespoons (15-30ml) neutral oil such as rice bran or canola
A big pinch ground black pepper plus 30-40 whole black peppercorns
15-20 whole cloves garlic, smashed
1 cup (240ml) cane, coconut, or distilled white vinegar
2/3 cup (160ml) Filipino soy sauce (Japanese shoyu or a mix of Chinese dark and light soy sauce works)
5 ounces (145g) brown or palm sugar
A few bay leaves

1. Season the chicken lightly with salt. Heat the oil in a wok or large saucepan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the chicken and cook, turning occasionally, until lightly browned all over, about 4 minutes.

2. Add the ground and whole black pepper and the garlic and stir to combine. Add the vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, and bay leaves, and stir to combine.

3. Bring to a boil, reduce to a bare simmer, cover, and cook for 30 minutes. Turn chicken, cover again, and cook until the chicken is fully tender and the sauce is thick and coats the chicken pieces in a dark glaze. Serve the chicken and sauce with rice.

[TheRealClappy]

I see nothing wrong that you did here, although a lot of fellow Filipinos might balk at the amount of sugar you added. But there are so many variations of adobo, some are sweet, some are made with chillies, some recipes sub the soy sauce with fish sauce so don't worry too much about authenticity. You used Datu Puti, so that made your dish authentic enough. - Big fan from the Philippines

[bigl]

I made this for my Filipino girlfriend and her mom last week and they were blown away.

Thank you Kenji, your channel has legitimately changed my life. Before I found your videos I ordered delivery or ate out almost every night. But now not only do I enjoy cooking but I’m excited to cook for others for the first time in my life. Your channel gave me the confidence to not be intimidated by the idea or process of cooking a full meal.

Lots of love from Brooklyn!
Keep on keeping on homie.

[nt_a_lawyer]

The best way I have heard someone describe the differences in adobo recipes is to compare it to American chili. Everyone makes it different but as soon as you take a bite you know its chili.

[Nic]

My grandfather is a native Hawaiian, but he spent almost a decade of his life sailing around the Pacific ocean. While in the Philippines, he saved a man's boat from drifting out to sea. The man thanked him by cooking this meal and teaching him this recipe. I can still remember my grandpa teaching it to me.

[Bandomemphis]

I’m Filipino, you did make one major mistake in making this, you didn’t have 20 people to eat with you and make a bunch of jokes. But for real it looks so good, will definitely be trying it your way next!

[FPFMarv]

I'm Filipino and I would eat that for sure. One thing I really appreciate about Kenji is how respectfully he approaches ethnic dishes. He does his research, learns about the cuisine, and will usually point out when he deviates from what is traditional - and explains why. Also he never claims to be an authority and in fact invites criticism/discussion. I'll admit I sometimes get triggered when I see videos called "THE BEST CHICKEN ADOBO EVER" or whatever. It makes me want to pick them apart.

[Nafemrotlem]

There are as many adobo recipes in the Philippines as there are islands, so authenticity is not an issue. I have never seen that much sugar used, though. I use coconut milk in mine.

[tennyoceres]

[Filipino diaspora enters the chat]
Schrodinger's adobo: there is too much and not enough sugar

[rogerx]

When I was growing up, my mom used to put 2 large scoops of chili ketchup in her chicken adobo, and that was my favorite version growing up. We're Filipino by the way. You can add almost anything to it and still call it adobo, as long as it keeps that distinct flavor. I have added and enjoyed it with -- coconut milk, ginger, paprika, honey, thai chili, sprite, 7-up, dark beer, mirin, curry, pineapple, potatoes, boiled eggs, string beans, lemongrass, turmeric, chicken liver, and other things I forgot.

[MARKIEEE]

Looks great!

My mom never used any sugar! She used to pull the chicken out at the end of braising and fry it on the side in a little bit of oil while the sauce reduces further, and take any fond from the frying pan and throw it all into the braise.

[TheVaughnillaIce]

Hi! Great recipe! Filipino here, grew up eating chicken adobo. I think this recipe is the closest recipe I've seen a non-Filipino person make. While some people would complain about the sugar, there really is a lot of variation in recipes. For example, in my family, there's no sugar added at all which really gives it a super umami kick, especially when you use like a really high quality chicken Water is also added to the braising liquid, enough for it to have a sort of soup you can ladle over the rice. About the thing where it's better the next day, there'a actually a saying for adobo: "Habang tumatagal lalong sumasarap" meaning it gets better the more you reheat it.

There are a lot of regional variations on adobo, actually. A few examples include ones where coconut milk is added (adobong gata), where you skip the soy sauce entirely and season it with salt (adobong puti), and where you skip the braising entirely and just cook the meat with the soy sauce and vinegar until it simmers away and dries up (adobong tuyo)

Adobo is one of those things where since everyone grew up eating it, no one really *doesn't* eat it, so it's always a safe bet, even for people who don't like vegetables, as it's just chicken and rice. For that reason, it's considered our national dish (sinigang stans don't even play you know I'm right)

[davidrowland]

Browning the garlic in oil will take this to the next level (along with a small amount of onion). Also, to mellow the bite of the vinegar, after adding it, let it simmer for a couple minutes (without stirring) before adding your soy sauce. Finally, I would probably use much less sugar, but that’s personal preference. But your version still looks great. I hope you do more Filipino dishes in the future.

[robbyfernandez]

Honestly, looks as authentic as it can be!!

Some mothers and lolas (grandmothers) lean more on soy sauce than vinegar. The technique and reducing is spot on!! Looks great!

[LtBerryJF]

As others have said, it's authentic as it can be, there are infinite variations. In addition to regional variations, there's just family to family variations. I've seen people add star anise, reminding me a bit of some Chinese influence, some coconut milk for some more SE Asia, considering the Philippines has had so many influences and cultures on it, your way looks great! My family likes it much more vinegar-y and less sweet, we also like to add a few dried chilies. My favorite is the one my mom makes with chicken thighs and pork belly *drool.* The pork belly's richness and fattiness are cut by the acidity in the sauce and breaks apart so nicely it's almost like a pulled pork adobo by the time it's done braising, and gets mixed so well into the rice while you still have nice chunks of chicken meat to bite on.

[homeboi]

Continuing on everyone else's variations, even in my own family we have different recipes.
My dad's recipe is similar to yours but he fries the meat a lot closer to completion before adding the braising liquid and puts a lot of brown sugar leaning to a more sweet flavor.
My mother's recipe differs with light browning, oyster sauce instead of sugar, adds sliced ginger, minces the garlic, and uses more vinegar.

[JonCole]

my filipino immigrant family rarely made adobo with sugar for me when i was growing up, but i add it to mine and my variation is always a hit with them nowadays. adobo is a moving target, i'm always delighted to learn more ways people make it, try new things. i never had it with coconut milk/cream growing up, but tried it after seeing many legit filipino cooks do so on youtube and it's now a variation in my own repertoire.

[BeeGuns]

Made it for dinner since I already had all the ingredients, subbed for brown sugar and used about half as much after reading some comments and added some green onions after cooking. Turned out amazing and I’m definitely going to make it more often!

[pavanyaragudi]

Kenji is real OG. 😂 Who else saw a 1million+ youtuber rub their camera's front element with the t-shirt that they're wearing.. 🔥😂

[Crappy]

Ahh, the food of my life!! I have never seen that much sugar added before, but my family just does it differently. Depending on taste, instead of cane sugar we'll use a can of 7Up/Sprite/Sierra Mist, or a cola like Coke or Pepsi. Ginger Ale also adds a nice flavor with the soy sauce and vinegar! In my family we'd also put in potatos later to absorb extra salt from the chicken, just in case too much soy sauce was added.

[AuntieMonicaFromTheBay]

Filipino American weighing in. The rest of the ingredients are part of the classic adobo recipe but I've never been taught to add sugar. Sugar looks like it adds a nice glaze. Props for using Datu Puti brand vinegar and soy sauce. That's pretty legit!

My favorite adodo protein these days are baby back ribs. I usually slice up the ribs then braise them like you did with the chicken. I think marinating them then slow roasting them at a low temp would be even better, though.