Adobo You Betta Do!

I’m taking a step back into memory lane.

Adobo. Savoury, tangy, and loaded with umami. This is one of the most well-known Filipino dishes. I remember how my mom would cook up chicken and pork adobo with rice, a side of salted sliced tomatoes, and boiled eggs.

Adobo is actually native to the Philippines. When the Spanish came in, they called the dish adobo that was stemmed from the Spanish word adobar, which means “to marinate”.

Not only is adobo flavourful, but it is also insanely versatile. Each region in the Philippines and every Pinoy household has their own personalized version of adobo. Since adobo refers to the cooking method used, you can basically use any kind of protein or vegetables under the sun to star in your adobo.

So what are the basic ingredients to adobo? Garlic, ginger, soy sauce and vinegar! 

For me, these four ingredients are essential when I make adobo. Now, I like my adobo to be a bit saucy so I tend to add in either water or coconut milk.

Using my mom's recipe, I knew I was making the best adobo out there! So for this food glow up, I wanted to work on my presentation, of course. But I also wanted to integrate some techniques you would use if you were making kakuni to make the meat insanely tender.

After taking this photo, I immediately dived in! The tangy and savoury pork is balanced by the creamy coconut sauce with hints of garlic and ginger. Surprisingly, the fried garlic cauliflower rice made this dish feel lighter...until you're on your 5th serving of adobo!

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Pork Adobo with Coconut Milk – Adobong Baboy sa Gata

Adapted from Yummy PH

Ingredients:

• 3 slices of pork shoulder – chopped/cubed

• 8 garlic cloves – minced

• 1 tbsp ginger – minced

• 1/2 onion – chopped

• 3 stalks of green onion – chopped

• 1/3 cup soy sauce

• 1/3 cup vinegar

• 2 tsp ground black pepper

• 2 tbsp oil

• 1/2 can of coconut milk

• 2 dried bay leaves

• 3 whole thai chilli pepper

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Instructions:

1. In a bowl, add half portions of the minced garlic, ginger, green onion and onion. Save the other half of the portions as we will use it to sauté it later.

2. Add in the chopped pork shoulder, soy sauce, vinegar, and mix well.

3. Let it marinate for 15-30 minutes.

(Note:  It is best to marinate the meat overnight in the fridge.)

4. Heat the pan to medium heat and add in the oil.

5. Sauté the portions of chopped onions that you have saved until it has softened. Then add in the rest of the garlic, ginger, and bay leaves until fragrant.

6. Place the marinated meat and sauce into the pan and let it cook for 10 minutes.

7. Add in the coconut milk, ground black pepper, and thai chilli peppers into the pan and bring it to a boil.

8. Stir and bring the heat to a low heat and cover it for 20-30 minutes until the sauce has thickened.

9. Taste the pork and season with soy sauce or vinegar if necessary.

10. Take out the dried bay leaves and garnish with green onion. Serve your adobo with rice!