Yummy Filipino Adobo

Filipino Adobo stores well and gets better as you keep it for several days. Store it in the fridge and fry/heat it up as you consume. The recipe/s below combines different recipes I've learned from friends and relatives. If you're new to cooking adobo, try the Basic Prep instructions first.  

The Kapampangan adobo recipe varies from the one I record here. When I get the time, I'll also write that one down. There are many variations of Filipino adobo, as much as there are Filipino families, I bet. The word adobo is Spanish for sauce or marinate, so don't be confuse Filipino adobo with the Mexican version.  

Got some tips? Share them in the comments below. 

Enjoy!

Yummy Filipino Adobo

Ingredients

• 2 lbs - pork (belly and/or ribs is great, but any cut is okay)
• 1 cup - soy sauce
• 1 cup - white vinegar (rice vinegar is okay)
• 4-6 pcs - bay or laurel leaves
• 1-2 tbsp -  ground/cracked black pepper
• 1-2 bulbs - of garlic - with cloves crushed, peeled, and sliced (the more garlic, the better)
• 1 bulb - onion, sliced (optional, see Instructions for Tastier prep, below)

I. Basic prep

1. Rinse pork and drain away water.
2. Put pork in a pot and mix in the crushed sliced garlic cloves with the pork.
3. Pour in soy sauce and vinegar.
1. Note: If you want the sauce on the saltier side, add more soy sauce.
4. Add black pepper.
5. Crumple/crack the laurel/bay leaves and add them to the pot.
6. Put in stove, bring to a boil, then lower the temp to a slow boil for 1.5 to 2 hours (the longer the cook time, the more tender the pork will be).
7. Continue the slow boil until the meat is tender, has soaked in the sauce, and the sauce is reduced to a thicker consistency.
8. Taste and keep cooking until you’re happy with the taste.
9. Serve with rice.

II. Tastier prep options

Try each of the following options separately, from top to bottom or do them all at the same time. 

1. Marinate the meat in the soy sauce-vinegar sauce for 1-3 hours before putting on the stove. This will help the meat absorb the sauce even more.
2. When the meat is tender and has started to absorb the sauce, take it out and fry it. Drizzle some sauce with cooked garlic on the meat while frying. Meanwhile, let the sauce simmer and reduce further in the pot. When the sauce is ready, put the meat back and serve.
3. Instead of frying the meat, try baking, broiling, or grilling it.
4. Substitute 1 lb of chicken instead of pork. Note: chicken softens faster than pork, so you can add the chicken later. Marinate the chicken in the sauce so it absorbs the sauce (see II-1). 
5. Fry some potato wedges (season lightly with salt and pepper) and add them to the pot when the adobo is ready.
6. Onion - make a bed of sliced onions in the pan before adding the meat. This makes the adobo even tastier, but you’ll need to reduce the sauce even more as the onion waters down the sauce if not cooked well. To fix this, just reduce the sauce some more. The onion will dissolve and thicken the sauce. Try also putting some of the cooked onions with the meat when frying/baking. 
7. After a few days, fry the meat with some sauce. As you fry it, pull the meat apart. This makes for some great tasting pulled pork/chicken.