Filipino Chicken Adobo Wings

Filipino Chicken Adobo Wings
Home Cooking



Well, well it so happens that Charlie's mother is from the Philippines. I'm very interested in food from everywhere but when I asked him what the national cuisine composed of, he didn't really have a clue.

We went to a Filipino restaurant once but I'm not sure if it was the best place to showcase what the islands have to offer. A few months after we went, that restaurant closed down.

Recently, I bought one of those cookbooks that are slim with a soft-cover (like the Womens Weekly ones). This particular one is called 'New Asian Cooking' from the 'Step-by-Step' series. It mostly contains South East Asian but there's a section on the Philippines. When I showed this to Charlie, the only thing he'd heard of before was the Chicken Adobo.


I did a bit of research and found out that the original Spanish term 'adobo' means marinate. However, in Filipino culture it involves braising chicken pieces in a vinegary sauce before frying them for a crisp texture. As a bonus, I happened to have most of the ingredients at home. I couldn't find proper chicken pieces in the tiny CBD supermarket - they only had wings OR drumsticks so I chose wings.

Filipino Chicken Adobo Wings
Makes 6 pieces - serves 2

Ingredients:

• 6 chicken wings
• 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1 cup chicken stock (I didn't have any so I used chicken stock powder dissolved in water)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 3 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp oil

Procedure:

1. Combine all ingredients (except oil) in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 2hrs. I used my 9-minute-marinator and it worked like a treat. 2. Transfer the mixture to a large, heavy-based pan. Bring to the boil over high heat, reduce heat and simmer, covered for 30min. Turn the chicken wings once or twice to make sure all surfaces get coated with sauce.3. Uncover the pan and continue cooking for 10min, or until chicken is tender. Wings don't take that long to cook. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
4. Bring the liquid back to the boil and cook over high heat for 10min or until reduced by 1/2.

5. Heat the oil in a wok or large non-stick saucepan and add the chicken pieces in one layer. Cook over medium heat until crisp and brown on both sides.

6. Serve with steamed rice and some of the reduced sauce. I also served with a side of roasted cauliflower.

This is the chicken before the sauce is poured over the top

Served with sauce and roasted cauliflower

I've never tasted chicken adobo before so I didn't know what I was aiming for (besides the obvious i.e. tasting good). The sauce ended up a bit on the sour side but together with the chicken, it was a wonderful mix. The chicken pieces were really tender and the flavor went all the way through the wings. The flavor is a sort of sweet and sour with a subtle Asian spice.


I'm really pleased with how the dish turned out and if these are the kinds of flavors I'm to expect from Filipino food, I can't wait till I get to visit and eat myself silly.