The Philippine Online Chronicles

I have always wanted to be a cooking wiz, but somehow the cooking fairies have not seen fit to bestow this gift on me. And so I rely on the recipes from my favorite cooking blogs, from the recipe books I have in the kitchen cupboards, or shared expertise from my mom or my co-workers.

I can follow recipes really well and somehow I have mastered kare-kare. My version of it has earned raves from the gallery.

But there is one ulam I have long wanted to cook for my family.  Adobo. Arguably the national dish. Absolutely the dish which everyone would know when you’re cooking it because it sends a trail of garlicky-vinegary scent that sticks to walls and curtains, and vapor that can waft into the next-door neighbor's space.

Adobo is defined, according to Tagalog Lang, as "a cooking method that includes vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, pepper and bay leaf; it is from the Spanish adobo, meaning seasoning or marinade."

An adobo in Spanish is a marinade or seasoning mix. Meat that has been seasoned with adobo mix is described as being adobada.

A friend once wrote in her blog that one of her favorite things is the scent of adobo simmering (along with that of mangoes ripening and barako coffee brewing). I would like to agree. But in fact, I have not had adobo simmered on my stove top since I got my kitchen 10 years ago.

Well I do remember the smell of adobo of my childhood, but I want to experience it anew, right in my own house.

And so recently, while having lunch with my co-workers, I told them:  "I am going to cook adobo tonight. I bought this pack of chicken thighs last week and its been in the freezer since." I wasn’t disappointed as I was showered with  suggestions on the best way to cook it and even where to find the instant adobo mix that works like magic.

And so when I got home I took the chicken out of the freezer and defrosted it.  Soon enough, I was savoring the smell of adobo simmering in my kitchen. 

My daughter liked it, although my husband was quiet. My co-workers gave it a thumbs up on lunch break the next day.

It still was not the adobo of my Nanay but I ate a lot of it, too.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chicken Adobo

• ½ kg chicken (I used thighs and cut it into serving pieces)
• 1 pack Mama Sita or any other brand adobo mix
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• ¼ - ½ cup cooking oil

Pour the adobo mix into 1 cup of water in a bowl. Marinate the chicken in the mix for 30 minutes.

Sautee the garlic in cooking oil in the skillet. Take chicken from the marinade and fry chicken until the outside is browned.

Pour the marinade into the skillet and bring to a boil at medium heat until chicken is tender.

If you don’t want the extra oil from the frying, you can take the chicken out and cook the chicken in the marinade in a different cooking pot.

For more flavor – add vinegar and soy sauce to the marinade as desired.

After I successfully cooked adobo, I brooded over it, maybe partly because my house still smelled faintly of it.

Adobo is a signature Filipino dish, if not the national dish . When we talk of adobo, we think of tradition -- it is one of the time-honored dishes served and cooked for us by our parents. The goodness of this savory dish comes from pork or chicken, or both, being slowly cooked in soy sauce, vinegar, crushed garlic, and bay leaf.

Adobo can be a good metaphor of an immigrant’s way of life, especially the part of trying to connect with the adopted culture – American, Canadian, or Australian. We do it slowly, we try to imbibe the foreign way of life, while still retaining our basic "Pinoyness."

Meat cooked adobo style acquires the flavors of its ingredients while retaining its identity as, say, chicken or pork.

We Filipinos in Canada exert efforts to be assimilated without being less Filipino. We celebrate Boxing Day, buy candy for Halloween trick or treat, and honor Queens Victoria and Elizabeth.  But we make sure we have PTV (Pinoy TV); we catch all of the Pacman's boxing matches; we mourned the passing of Tita Cory. 

We embrace our new friends but our laughter is louder and more heartfelt when we get together with fellow Pinoys.

We learn the borrowed language, maybe even acquire an accent; but in our homes and in our mind, we speak the language of our birth.

We develop a taste for steak, salad, and pasta; we get a big turkey for Thanksgiving Day; we make sure we have authentic maple syrup for our pancakes.  But when we party with other Pinoys, we pig out on lechon, pancit bihon, and lumpiang sariwa.  And yes, we savor the scent of adobo simmering in our kitchen.

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites