Adobo sa Dilaw

Adobo is one of MB’s favorite dishes in my repertoire. But I’m not a big fan of adobo so I try to experiment with it as much as I can. Here’s a slam dunk recipe of adobo that we truly enjoyed.

I’m not a ginger lover. I only like it when it’s shredded into tiny portions and swimming in tentsuyu. But luyang dilaw (turmeric) is a different story. I don’t know why I’m so drawn to this ingredient. Must be the vibrant yellow color that it gives to a dish or the taste. Whatever it is, I love it!

Cook this when you have the luxury of time and cook this a day before you’re planning to serve this so that the chicken will absorb all the flavors. I tell you, patience is a virtue. You won’t be disappointed.

The original recipe is from Yummy. This version is slightly amended.

You need:

• Chicken
• 3 bulbs garlic (2 bulbs left whole and washed, one bulb peeled and smashed)
• 1/2 c vinegar
• 2 bay leaves
• ginger
• powdered turmeric (because I don’t have the fresh ones when I decided to cook this)
• black peppercorns
• cooking oil
• sea salt
• 1 1/2c water

How to:

1. Put all ingredients in a nonreactive or stainless steel pot (don’t use aluminum or copper pots). Boil for 3 minutes.

2. Take out the scum. Reduce the heat to simmer until the chicken becomes fork-tender, about 1 – 1.5 hours. Add water as needed and only little by little. Always taste to see if you still have the right flavor. Add more seasoning if needed. The adobo must be saucy, not soupy. But MB wanted it to be soupy so I added more water. I also added a little bit of fish sauce (patis).

3. Refrigerate and serve this the following day. When you reheat this, smash the garlic and mix with the sauce for a more robust flavor.

On my next post, I’ll show you what I served this with. Stay tuned.