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.