This is one of my favorite dishes of all time. This is partly because it’s unbelievably tasty (as is the case with every Filipino recipe I’ve ever tried), but it’s also because it reminds me of a dear friend of mine. My friend Susanne is Filipino and was one of the first people to truly expose me to the beautiful food culture of the Philippines. This beloved classic chicken adobo is now a go-to in My Kitchen Little, and it’s just the beginning of several fantastic Filipino dishes I hope to share with you guys.
“This recipe was selected to be part of the Noche Buena Recipes as part of the Christmas celebration of the educational publisher Twinkl, with the aim of helping Filipinos feel the Christmas spirit wherever they are around the world.”
What is Filipino Chicken Adobo?
The national dish of the Philippines, Filipino Chicken Adobo (Filipino Adobo Chicken) is a vinegar stew, of sorts, and is built on an incredibly flavorful sauce of soy, vinegar, garlic, chiles, bay, and sugar. Primarily made with bone-in chicken pieces, what you get when you reach the end of your cooking is a deeply savory, lip-smacking sauce and tender, succulent chicken.
The core recipe consists of some powerhouse flavor weapons
There are so many variations of this dish out there, and almost no two recipes are exactly alike. But the bones of all of them are essentially the same:
- Bone-in, skin on chicken
- Soy sauce
- Rice vinegar
- Garlic (lots of it)
- Chiles (I use pickled jalapenos because they’re milder than fresh)
- Sugar (provides balance)
- Bay leaves (give a subtle floral note)
Kitchen Little Essentials
To make this Filipino Chicken Adobo with Coconut Rice recipe, you will need:
A large lidded braising pan (this is the exact one I use)
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I hope this post intrigues you, and inspired you to dive further into the delicious world of authentic Filipino food. Here are some great resources to help you do just that:
People to follow over on Instagram
@unboxedgourmet (one of my dearest girlfriends, Susanne is an incredible cook who shares her love of Filipino food in a fun, joyful way)
@filipinokitchen (a women-owned, immigrant and diaspora-run food media and events group)
Great Youtube Channel:
Filipino Cookbooks
How to Make Filipino Chicken Adobo
- To prepare the rice, simply replace ½ of the water with coconut milk (you’ll use 1 cup) and proceed with the package directions. Save the remaining bit of coconut milk for the adobo sauce. It will really help to balance the flavors and mellow out some of the vinegar’s acidity.
- Add the oil to a large, lidded pan set over medium high heat. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and brown on all sides; about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate or large sheet pan. Drain the pan of the grease but don’t worry about wiping it out.
- Add the soy sauce and vinegar to the pan and taste it. If it’s too salty, add a little more vinegar. If it’s too tangy, do a splash more of soy. You’re just trying to find a flavor balance that tastes good to you. Now, add the remaining coconut milk, the bay leaves, brown sugar, garlic cloves, pickled jalapenos (see note), and ½ cup water. Add the chicken back into the pan and cover with the lid. Let the chicken simmer for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cooked.
- Once the chicken has cooked, transfer it back to the sheet pan. Time to thicken the sauce! In a small bowl, stir together the corn starch and 1.5 TBSP water. Add this to the sauce and, stirring frequently to prevent clumps, bring the sauce back up to a bubble over med-high heat. Once it boils, reduce it to a simmer over low heat. Add the chicken back in.
- Preheat your broiler and adjust the rack to the middle position. Broil the chicken for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the skin has darkened and crisped. Serve with the coconut rice, garnished with scallions and fresh chopped cilantro.
How to Make Perfect Coconut Rice
This is such a tangy, salty dish that I find it to be the ABSOLUTE PERFECT THING to pile atop my fluffy, barely sweet coconut rice. The hint of coco-nutty sweetness that the coconut milk adds to the rice is so, so delicious and really brings some balance to this plate of food.
A lot of coconut rice recipes will have you cook your rice entirely in coconut milk. I think this is a little much, to be honest, and is almost too rich. I’ve found that by just replacing half of the cooking water – rather than all of it – with coconut milk, you really get the perfect texture and flavor. This is my favorite way to cook rice, and the method I use most often.
Tips from our Test Kitchen
Filipino Chicken Adobo is an incredibly flavorful dish, and from what we’ve learned, it really does depend heavily on the specific kinds of vinegar and soy sauce you use. That said, the amounts that I’ve listed here might not taste exactly right to you, if you happen to use different brands than those that are available to me in my supermarket.
To mitigate your recipe from tasting off to you, or maybe saltier than you’d like – or tangier – I recommend you mix the soy sauce and vinegar together in the pan and taste repeatedly until you get the ratio that works for you. Before you add in the chiles, bay, and garlic, you can spend a little time with the two heaviest hitters – the soy and the vinegar – playing with and tweaking their amounts until the balance is to your liking.
The longer you cook the sauce, the more it will reduce – and the thicker it will get. The more reduced it gets, the saltier it will taste. It’s almost like making a concentrate. So, I like to cook the sauce until it’s glossy and sticky, but still very spoonable and perfect for dragging the chicken and rice through.
The broiling step isn’t really traditional, but I think it’s crucial here. It will help brown the chicken skin, leaving you with crispy, gorgeously caramelized flavors.
If you like the sounds of this Filipino Chicken Adobo recipe, you might want to try:
Cracker Crumb Chicken Saltimbocca
Filipino Chicken Adobo with Coconut Rice
A beautifully umami, tangy, and unbelievably flavorful dish from the Philippines, this Filipino Chicken Adobo is easy to make and easy on the budget.
- Yield: 4 to 6 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup jasmine or basmati rice
- 15-ounce can coconut milk, divided
- 1 TBSP olive oil (you can use any neutral-flavored cooking oil)
- 2 pounds bone-in chicken drumsticks or thighs
- Salt and pepper, as needed
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup rice vinegar
- 1/2 cup pickled jalapeños
- 5 bay leaves
- 2 heaping TBSP brown sugar
- 5 garlic cloves, smashed
- 2 TBSP corn starch
Instructions
- To prepare the rice, simply replace ½ of the water with coconut milk (you’ll use 1 cup) and proceed with the package directions. Save the remaining bit of coconut milk for the adobo sauce. It will really help to balance the flavors and mellow out some of the vinegar’s acidity.
- Add the oil to a large, lidded pan set over medium high heat. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and brown on all sides; about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate or large sheet pan. Drain the pan of the grease but don’t worry about wiping it out.
- Add the soy sauce and vinegar to the pan and taste it. If it’s too salty, add a little more vinegar. If it’s too tangy, do a splash more of soy. You’re just trying to find a flavor balance that tastes good to you. Now, add the remaining coconut milk, the bay leaves, brown sugar, garlic cloves, pickled jalapenos (see note), and ½ cup water. Add the chicken back into the pan and cover with the lid. Let the chicken simmer for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cooked.
- Once the chicken has cooked, transfer it back to the sheet pan. Time to thicken the sauce! In a small bowl, stir together the corn starch and 1.5 TBSP water. Add this to the sauce and, stirring frequently to prevent clumps, bring the sauce back up to a bubble over med-high heat. Once it boils, reduce it to a simmer over low heat. Add the chicken back in.
- Preheat your broiler and adjust the rack to the middle position. Broil the chicken for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the skin has darkened and crisped. Serve with the coconut rice, garnished with scallions and fresh chopped cilantro.
Notes
NOTE: I actually add the pickled jalapenos over the dish just before serving, as I prefer a little less spice since I make it for my kids. That’s an option, too.
Keywords: Filipino Chicken Adobo
