Filipino Style Chicken Adobo

Okay, so my wonderful Filipino neighbor had me over last summer for a little neighborhood get together. I took over some pico da gallo and chips and she had made some chicken adobo, along with some other dishes. Well, let me tell you that the chicken adobo made a huge impression on me. It was just mouthwatering delicious. The meat just fell right off the bone and the taste of it was just simply wonderful.

So, I tell her that it is just wonderful and she replies, "Oh, Rachel, it's nothing, just chicken, soy sauce, vinegar, onions, garlic and water." Still, I can't believe how easy it is to make and yet it tastes so good. After the dinner I went home and haven't really thought about it until today. Today with the rain and cool weather all I could think about was my neighbors chicken adobo. So, I start researching how it is made and she was right, it's just chicken, soy sauce, vinegar, water, onions, garlic and in some recipes ginger.

I headed to the store and bought some chicken thighs and came home and just started to throw the ingredients together and this is the recipe that I came up with.


Filipino Style Chicken Adobo
cooking time about an hour
Serves 4

1 onion diced (any color, I used red because that is what I had on hand)
1 head of garlic diced
2-3 teaspoons of fresh chopped ginger (optional)
4 tablespoons of oil
1 pound chicken thighs (I bought the deboned, skinless ones, but my neighbor used the ones with bones and skin in hers.)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup vinegar (I used 1 cup of vinegar and it was a little too tangy for my tastes, so next time I will just use a 1/2 cup)
2-3 cups chicken stock
2 teaspoons paprika or smoked paprika
4 bay leaves
2 tablespoons of cornstarch
salt and pepper to taste

• Saute the onions, garlic and ginger in wok or a large pan. Once it is all sauteed, probably about 2 minutes add the chicken thighs and brown both sides.
• Once the chicken is browned add the rest of the ingredients except for the corn starch and bring to a boil and turn the stove down medium-low, to let the mixture simmer. Simmer for at least 30 minutes until chicken is nice and tender. My neighbor says that this is a dish that you could just let simmer for hours if you wanted to. I just let mine go for 30 minutes because the family was starving.
  
• After the 30 minutes is up take the chicken out of the pot and place in a pan of hot oil and braise for a few minutes on each side. Then place the meat back into the pan with the sauce and add the cornstarch to the mixture so that the sauce will thicken just a little bit. Once the sauce is thickened the chicken is ready to be served over a bed of rice.

So, there ya have it. The only thing that I will change the next time that I make this, is that I will use 2 pounds of chicken thighs. One pound was just the right amount for our family, but I would like to have enough for leftovers next time. That way we can have the leftovers for lunch the next day or something.

Spicy Peanut Chicken

This is going to be a shocker to Wench #2 & #3. They made me promise to post something; I don’t think they believed I actually would. Up until now I’ve managed to avoid most social networking stuff. So they are going to be amazed that not only am I posting, but I am the first of the Wenches to post a recipe. Ha!

Living in rural middle America has it's perks. Great take-out is not one of them. We have tried the only take-out in town and was very disappointed. We almost never get take-out, since it doesn't seem worth it to drive 20 minutes to another town to get it and then drive 20 minutes to get home.

Tonight we had a great meal that was very easy to prepare. It has all of the great flavors of takeout and it can be prepared quicker then it would take us to go get it elsewhere. It was inspired by this recipe I saw prepared on TV. I made a few adjustments to accommodate what I had in the house and made it my own. Cait said it was as good as Global Noodle, which in our little family is pretty high praise. It also means that this sauce would also be great tossed with pasta and shrimp. Tonight we served it alongside fried rice.


(not a great picture, but not bad considering it was taken with my phone)

Spicy Peanut Chicken
Serves 4-6

Sauce:
¼ cup creamy peanut butter
¼ cup soy sauce
½ cup chicken stock
1 teaspoon Sriracha Hot Chili sauce (or to taste)
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
Stir-fry:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 ½ pounds boneless chicken, diced into 1-inch cubes
1 red bell pepper, diced into ½-inch pieces
3 carrots, julienned
1 teaspoon Sate seasoning, or your favorite curry powder (optional)
Salt and pepper
1 inch ginger, grated
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 bunch scallions, sliced into 1-inch pieces
½ cup peanuts

Stir together sauce ingredients and set to the side. Don’t worry about mixing thoroughly it will all come together when the heat is applied.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet. Season chicken with Sate seasoning, salt and pepper. Add chicken to hot oil and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes. Add bell peppers and carrots and stir-fry for 2 more minutes. Remove chicken and vegetables from pan.

Add 1 tablespoon oil to pan. Stir-fry garlic and ginger in pan for 15 seconds, and then add sauce ingredients to pan. Stir sauce to combine ingredients. Peanut butter will melt and thicken sauce. Add chestnuts and scallions to sauce and heat through for 1 minute. Add back chicken, peppers and carrots to pan. Add scallions and toss to coat in sauce. Serve over hot rice.