Hi Guys! This is the Filipino Chicken Adobo!
I have decided to make according to one of the fellow blogger Lisa, who writes lots of yummy and wonderful recipes at Low Crab Yum. There are lots of low crab and healthy recipes on Lisa’s blog. If you were searching for healthy daily recipes, Low Crab Yum would be a great resource.
There are so many yummy foods around the world and for all of my past days, I was mostly surrounded by Chinese food and that’s why Chinese cuisine has been my main interest in kitchen. However I have made the decision to test more recipes from other cuisine around the world.
When I fist reading the recipe, it seems quite interesting to me because we do not marinate meat with vinegar usually in Chinese cuisine. On the contrast, vinegar usually is added at the last minutes of the dishes with just a small amount. Filipino Chicken Adobo calls for larger amount of vinegar. So at the beginning, I was worried about whether the sour taste would be slightly overwhelming. Then I find the cooking time is longer than most of the stir-fry dishes, so the vinegar will be volatilized mostly. However the taste can also be tested in the final dish.
I have made some basic changes to lisa’s recipe. Firstly I use chicken leg to replace boneless chicken breast. But I remove the bones too. Then I add 4 bay leaves.

- 4 chicken legs , bone removed and cut into pieces
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 4 bay leaves , optional
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Marinate chicken with vinegar, half of the minced garlic; light soy sauce and dark soy sauce for around 1hour. Transfer chicken out and drain. Keep the sauce too.
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Heat up oil in pan, fry garlic until aroma. Put chicken pieces in to fry until slightly browned. Pour in the sauce, bay leaves and then simmer for 10 minutes over medium fire. And then turn up the fire and thicken the sauce.
Some thought on the final taste, a well-balanced taste extremely good with plain staple food like steamed rice or steamed buns. Hints of soy sauce and vinegar can be found for sure.
I love what you have done to the recipe Elaine! My father makes his adobo with cut chicken thighs and his recipe looks much more like yours. In fact, I’m pretty sure his recipe uses bay leaves. Thanks for the trying it out.
Haha Lisa,
I am pretty sure that it is a rice killer. I ate all the 4 chicken legs up with one large bowl of steamed rice. Yummy and quite quick to prepare.
I was just about to try an adobe recipe too as part of the challenge! Great photos – the chicken looks so dark and glossy I bet it was delicious.
Thanks Nancy for your sweet comment. I add some dark soy sauce and I love the color too. Happy cooking ahead.
Oh wow! I posted one a couple of weeks ago myself! It is always interesting to read different versions of a recipe. Isn’t it amazing how just a handful of ingredients can create such an awesome sauce? Here’s my tip – use all the glaze in the pan and chop up the chicken, and use it to make fried rice, you don’t need any other flavours!! 🙂
Great idea Nagi!!! It really tasted good when served with steamed rice. So it is on my list of rice-killer.
Love your blog and the beautiful recipes. Glad I bumped into it
Thanks Bach for your kind word. Wish you happy cooking ahead.
Found this recipe on Instagram and it looks so good! Trying it out for dinner tonight, and I’m definitely excited 🙂
Great Candice! Look forward to the good news.
This looks so yummy! I don’t have apple cider vinegar on hand. Can I substitute it with a different vinegar such as rice wine or white balsamic vinegar? Thanks! 🙂
Hi Diana,
I guess white balsamic vinegar is perfect but not sure about rice wine.
Do you think I could use boneless skinless chicken breast instead?
Sure, Tyler!! Boneless chicken breast is perfectly fine!