Once in a while I indulge myself in cooking up one of the philippines' finest home cooked comfort food, Adobo. You can have it in the chicken or pork varieties and you can add just about anything you want and even put in however many twist to that filipino classic as you deem fit. I, on the other hand, prefer the classic type and in this post I will share how I cook it with less fat without compromising the taste.
Ok, to start off let's make a list of what you will be needing; A kilo of pork ribs. I prefer younger pork meat and I would like to have the ribs with ample meat on them and chopped in appropriate sizes. I would season the meat with a little rubbing down with salt and pepper and just a pinch of paprika, dried rosemary, dried basil, and set it in the refrigerator for about half a day. Once ready to cook have 2-3 medium sized potatoes peeled and cut into bite size cubes, peel 2 carrots and cut them up in comparative sizes to the potatoes. You will need the following, as well. Pork lean meat or ribs about two and a half pounds (roughly a little over a kilo). Half a tablespoon of salt, a quarter of a tablespoon of ground pepper, a pinch of paprika, several dried bay leaves, dried rosemary and thyme about the same ratio as your pepper you grounded earlier. Also, a clove of garlic minced into little pieces and a whole onion, diced to perfection.
Saute the garlic and onions first and once you see the onions about half done add in your meat. I like to sear the meat on a separate pan with about two tablespoons of olive oil to lock in the juices before I add them to the sauteed onions and garlic. cook in medium heat until the pork is about half done then season with your salt,pepper, paprika, bay leaves, rosemary, and thyme. Add about half a cup of chicken stock to the mixture and cover for about five minutes. Chop the potatoes and carrots into equal cubed sizes and have the carrots steamed until half cooked. The potatoes, however, will be fried on a separate skillet until golden. Then comes the best part about cooking adobo. You see, it's the soy sauce that gives it a distinctive flavor making it a filipino cuisine every household is well familiar with. Mind you, not every brand of soy sauce you see on your supermarket shelf is the same. I chose Kikkoman Soy Sauce because of its rich flavor. Add about a quarter cup of soy sauce into the pan and stir. Let cook for about another five minutes before adding the carrots and potatoes.
I like adobo because it's one of those comfort foods you never tire of. Every household in the Philippines have at least a variant of this dish and is a mainstay of the filipino kitchen. I like to serve it over hot rice with juices flowing over and steaming with flavor. A side dish of Atchara and a tall glass of cold Mango shake and you couldn't possibly ask for more. Ahhhh...Indeed. Well, I hope I tickled your taste buds enough to make you want to try this dish for yourself. As they say," variety is the spice of life".So go try to cook yourself up one of these. You will taste a culture found half a world away, reading this same post, I hope. Well, ta-da and until next time. Happy cooking.
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