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One Pot Chicken Adobo

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 5 minutes
Servings 4
Author Margaret Bose Johnson

Ingredients

  • ½ cup (120ml) white vinegar
  • ½ cup (120ml) soy sauce, gluten-free if necessary, (not the heavy, dark kind)
  • 5 cloves garlic peeled and coarsely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon peppercorns
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 2 lbs (900gms - 1 kg) chicken pieces; bone in, skin on (drumsticks, thighs, wings, or a mixture)

For the Coconut Rice

  • 2 cups (400gms) jasmine rice
  • 1 can (14 oz/400gms) full fat coconut milk
  • 1½ cups (360ml) water or enough to come up to your first knuckle if you touch the tip of your finger to the top of the rice in the pot

Instructions

  • In a heavy bottomed saucepan or small dutch oven that looks big enough to just hold the chicken pieces in one layer, heat the vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and peppercorns until they just reach a simmer.
  • Add the chicken pieces, arranging them so they are wedged into the pot in one layer. Tuck the bay leaves among them. Cook until the sauce reaches a simmer again.
  • Then cover the pot with a lid and simmer the chicken for about 1 hour, turning the pieces halfway through. Remove the lid, and continue to simmer the chicken, uncovered, for an additional 30 minutes to 1 hour, until the sauce has reduced to a thin layer on the bottom of the pan and is looking shiny and glaze-like. The time to reduce the sauce will depend on the size of pot you are using and the heat of your burner. (A wider pot will take less time for the sauce to reduce, while a double batch will take closer to one hour.)
  • Serve the one pot chicken adobo with hot cooked rice. (The recipe for coconut rice which which is included is especially tasty.) Try not to eat too much of the chicken as it is cooking (in the name of taste-testing, you know), or your table companions will be whining for more!
  • Serves 4 (But you might want to just make a double batch while you're at it - the chicken tastes fantastic the next day, too!)

To Make the Coconut Rice:

  • Rinse the rice several times (until the water runs clear) and strain it, then put it into a saucepan. Add the coconut milk (stirred first if it has settled) and the water (try the knuckle measurement if you feel adventurous).
  • Bring the rice to a boil, stir it, then reduce the heat to low and cover the pot. Cook for 20 minutes without lifting the lid. Remove the pot from the burner and leave it sit for five more minutes, covered, to steam and dry out.
  • Serves 4.

Notes

Use a medium or light soy sauce or a tamari soy sauce for this recipe; not the really dark soy sauce or it may get too salty after being reduced for so long.
If you have a large enough saucepan, it is worth doubling this recipe while you are at it - you won't regret it!
In the Philippines it is common to use either chicken or pork for adobo. Try this recipe with large chunks of pork, too.
JUST A NOTE - when the adobo first starts cooking, you'll notice a strong smell of vinegar permeate your kitchen. Try to ignore it, because the finished dish is so worth it; the vinegar smell will eventually dissipate as the vinegar cooks off, and you'll be left with the unique, irresistible flavour of Filipino adobo.
*I've made a double batch of chicken adobo in the Instant Pot electric pressure cooker. It worked well, but there was a lot of sauce and the chicken wasn't as beautifully browned (though it was tender and flavourful) as when it's made on the stovetop. I put all the ingredients into the Instant Pot and cooked it on high for 25 minutes, with a 15 minute natural release. When it was done, I removed the chicken pieces to keep warm and cooked the sauce down until it was reduced by at least half, then poured some over the chicken and passed the rest in a sauce pitcher.