Chicken Adobo Family Recipe

Chicken adobo is a mouth-watering dish served with hot steamed rice with a vegetable side dish. For color contrast and presentation, you may use for vegetables green beans, asparagus spears, or swiss chard sautee.

Chicken adobo may be categorized thus: (1) wet and (2) dry. Adobo can also be further categorized into a recipe using onions and a recipe that doesn't use onions. Onions do not belong to real adobo as it imparts a taste and aroma that defeats and overwhelms the garlic, the star clove, and the peppercorn aroma.

And another thing. Do not ever use chicken white meat for adobo. It dries up and becomes nonpalatable. Use only the dark meat. In fact, if you are adventurous, you may include the giblets (liver, gizzard, neck). Use only chicken thighs, drum sticks and the back ribs.

It is also best to use a wok, teflon coated or otherwise, to cook adobo because as the water is displaced and the pieces begin to be braised in its own chicken oil, you must carefully turn the pieces over until golden brown.

With that introduction, here's the Dry Chicken Adobo recipe that has been with the family for as long as I can remember.

Ingredients

• Four thighs and four drumsticks with the livers, gizzards and necks
• 4 Star cloves (available at most Asian food stores)
• 1 fresh garlic bulb, crushed, peeled, and chopped
• 1 tsp of oregano
• 1 tbsp of whole peppercorns, coarsely crushed
• 2 bay leaves (crushed or whole)
  
• 1/3 cup of Tamari Soy Sauce
• 1/4 cup of 5% acidity Apple Cider vinegar
• 3 packets of Splenda, Equal, or Sweet and Low Sugar
• Dash of red pepper (the same you use on your pizza)
• Cold water to cover the chicken pieces in the wok
  

Procedure

1. Wash the pieces of chicken, place in colander and allow the pieces to drip excess water.
2. In the wok, pour the soy sauce, vinegar, and the sugar. Using a whisk or a ladle, mix the sauce. Dip your finger; taste the sauce. Adjust the tartness, sweetness, saltiness to your taste. Be careful not to overdo this because you can come up with too much soy sauce, and/or too much vinegar, or too much sugar.
   
3. Add the garlic, oregano, bay leaves, red pepper. Mix thoroughly.
4. Lay the chicken pieces in the wok, lining the wok bottom with the thighs and the drumsticks next and finally the giblets on the topmost layer.
5. Scatter the crushed black peppercorns over the chicken pieces.
6. Pour the cold water over the chicken pieces until the pieces are covered. Place the wok lid to seal the wok.
7. Turn on the heat to high. If using an electric wok, turn the heat to high. The wok will begin to boil. Let it boil for about 15 minutes. Turn the heat to medium. The wok will go into simmer while continuing to cook and to get rid of the water turned to steam.
   
8. Stay with the dish so that you will be there on hand as soon as all the water evaporates and the chicken pieces begin to drip their own oil. If for some reason you have to leave the wok at this point, you can listen for the sizzling sound of fat dripping - as this will let you know that the dish critical time has arrived. You must turn the heat to low at this time to prevent burning the pieces and the sauce.
9. Turn over the chicken pieces gently, trying to not tear the flesh off of the bone. By turning the chicken pieces over you help the pieces to get browned and to get exposed to the spices. Make sure that all the pieces get bathed in the oil and with the spices.
10. Keep cooking the dish and gently turning the pieces until it gets as "dry" as you desire it. In the end you will only have some oil and the spices in the bottom of the wok.

Serving

Ladle the chicken into a platter, using the thighs to line the bottom level followed by the drumsticks and the giblets. Use the star cloves to accent the chicken pieces. Garnish with a sprig of parsely or fresh cilantro. Serve with steamed rice and the green vegetable.