Chicken Adobo

Ingredients

• Chicken thighs/legs (bone-in) · cut into pieces700 g
• Soy sauce5 tbsp
• Vinegar (cane or rice)4 tbsp
• Water150 ml
• Garlic · crushed or minced6 cloves
• Bay leaves3
• Peppercorns · cracked1 tsp
• Sugar (or brown sugar)1 tbsp
• Cooking oil1 tbsp
• Scallion & chili · optional1 to garnish

Steps

1. Marinate the chicken with the soy, vinegar, garlic, bay leaves, and pepper for 30 minutes (skippable if short on time).

   ⏲ 30 min

2. Heat oil in a pot, lift the chicken from the marinade, and brown it on the surface (optional but adds flavor).

   ⏲ 5 min

3. Pour in the reserved marinade and water and bring to a boil. To mellow the vinegar, don't stir for the first 2–3 minutes of boiling.

   ⏲ 5 min

4. Cover and simmer over low heat 25–30 minutes until the chicken is tender and the sauce has reduced.

   ⏲ 25 min

5. Stir in the sugar to balance, then uncover and reduce the sauce to the consistency you like.

   ⏲ 5 min

6. Garnish with scallion and chili and serve with warm rice.

   ⏲ 1 min

Tips & Variations

The basics behind this dish

• Browning and the Maillard ReactionMeat fails to brown for one of three reasons: it is wet, the pan is cool, or you put too much in at once. Plus how the brown film stuck to the pan becomes your sauce.
• Cooking Meat: Temperature, Resting, and Cutting Against the GrainDoneness is a core temperature, not a number of minutes. What resting actually does, how to handle a thick cut, and why the direction you slice changes the texture.
• Knife Skills: Grip, Cuts, and Why Size MattersHow you hold the knife matters more than how fast you cut. The pinch grip, the claw hand, and why uniform size is a cooking decision rather than a cosmetic one.