If there’s a national food for us Pinoys, it’s definitely adobo. This simple dish has reached the four corners of the globe as homesick Pinoys cook it the way it’s cooked at home. There is no standard adobo recipe as every Philippine province has it’s own peculiar way of cooking adobo.
According to the Adobo Book, co-authored by Reynaldo Gamboa Alejandro and Nancy Reyes-Lumen, the basic ingredients of adobo are meat (pork/chicken), vinegar, garlic and salt. It’s not entirely Filipino since it has a Hispanic legacy. The soy sauce was later introduced by the Chinese. A little trivia, soy sauce is toyo in Tagalog but we Ilonggos call it patis. The fish sauce which is patis in Tagalog is toyo for us.
So what is the standard adobo recipe for us Ilonggos? None, I guess, as there are also several variations in ingredients and the manner of cooking. However, there’s one ingredient that’s present in most adobo recipes in Ilonggo households, the estewetes (atsuete). That’s how we cook adobo at home and as I consider myself a true-blue Ilonggo, my own adobo recipe has atsuete too.
When we cook at home we don’t really follow exact measurements of ingredients. It’s really bulubanta (estimate). Since we use native vinegar that varies in acidity, the amount of the other spices will depend on that too. So here’s my personal adobo recipe.
Ingredients
1 K pork (or chicken), cut into serving pieces
1 C native vinegar (I mix a small amount of sinamak since I want it spicier)
1/4 C soy sauce
1/2 C atsuete water (soak 1Tbsp atsuete seeds in 1/2 C water)
5 cloves garlic, crushed for marinating meat
3 cloves garlic, crushed for sauteing
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium tomato, seeds removed and diced
4 pcs bay leaf
1 tsp salt or to taste
1 Tbsp brown sugar or to taste
2 Tbsp cooking oil for frying
Marinate meat, vinegar, soy sauce, atsuete water, garlic, bay leaf, salt and sugar for at least 1 hour.
Saute garlic, onion and tomato in a pan. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer in low flame, without stirring for 1 hour or until sauce is thickened.
For more adobo recipes, go buy the Adobo Book. It has more than a hundred interesting recipes from all over the Philippines.
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Hi Gladita! Your adobo looks yummy. My friends like my adobo, but I’m still not satisfied. There is something I’m not doing right. I want it to taste like my mother’s. Maybe it’s the soy sauce I use.
Karmis last blog post..Miscanti: and why it’s unforgettable
What do you call that leaf thingy in Ilonggo? Recado?
@Karmi – practice makes perfect.
@Tikalon – it’s bay leaf but the one we call rekado already includes bay leaf and whole pepper.
aba, try ko abi kag ipatilaw sa amo ko nga italyano… basi magustohan kag i request pati ikaw nga magluto sa iya. hehe
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I just found your site. I love your adobo recipe, i like the blogposts more, and i like the blogspot best. For those like me who just wants to use the computer and can’t even follow its instructions, then we are amazed at how you put all these things together in your blogspot. I envy your writing skills on just about anything, and you express them with slight humor. You really deserve to be the best Pinoy blog. Thanks.
andreas last blog post..The Sandpiper…a touching story
@Andrea – Thank you so much! You made my day. I’m really touched. Comments like these inspire me to write more.
Glady, the Domesticated Diva. Haha. Ay abaw.
LOL! It’s for survival.
Adobo, yummmmmmm my family’s favorite!! I like the chicken adobo with pineapple chunks best