Chicken adobo or adobong manok is a popular dish not only in the Philippines but in some parts of the world.

When you mention Filipino foods to Americans, the dishes that popped into their minds perhaps would be adobo (be it chicken adobo, pork adobo or the combination of chicken-pork adobo), pancit, lumpia (vegetable lumpia/roll) and egg roll (our lumpiang shanghai). These four Filipino foods are familiar to them. And we have different versions of this dish depending on the region you come from. There are saucy adobo, dry adobo, sweet adobo, full of garlic adobo, adobo with potatoes or sweet potatoes, etc. As for my version, it’s an Ilocano style adobo (be it chicken or pork adobo), it’s not dry, it has a small amount of sauce to it and it has generous amount of fried and crispy garlic toppings. I also prefer to use the native chicken for my chicken adobo since in our province, a native chicken is always available. This is because it is normal for a typical home in a barrio to raise their own livestock in their backyard. 🙂

Ingredients:
1 whole native chicken – butchered, cleaned and chopped
Note: If native chicken is not available, you can buy 1 kilogram of combination of chicken breast, legs and wings.
2 tbsp. of patis (fish sauce)
2 fingers of ginger – crushed
1 medium sized onion – sliced finely
3 cloves garlic – sliced into flakes, deep fried to achieve crispiness
3 cloves of garlic – minced, for sauteing
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup vinegar (sukang iloko)
1/4 cup bread crumbs or crushed fita/ritz crackers
1 tsp. brown sugar
2 cups water
2 pieces bay leaves
1 small red bell pepper – diced
2-3 pieces potatoes – diced
1 tsp. pepper corn or ground black pepper

Procedure:
1) Saute garlic, onion and chicken. Add the patis and continue sauteing until chicken turns to light brown.
2) Add the soy sauce, black pepper, brown sugar and mix to blend. Add the water and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until chicken meat becomes tender.
3) Add the potato and bell pepper and simmer for another 8-10 minutes. Also add salt to taste if desired or necessary.
4) Add the vinegar, bay leaves and bread crumbs. Mix well to blend and simmer for another 5 minutes.
5) Pour the cooked chicken adobo in a bowl and sprinkle the fried, crispy garlic flakes on top.
6) Ready to serve with steamed rice. Enjoy! 🙂