Cookbook talk:Adobo

From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection

An alternative: My experience of traditional Filipino Adobo has been that it does not contain either potato, apple cider vinegar or blackbean paste. Agreed, any meat (whether chicken or pork or a combination of both) for Adobo should always contain bones, but authentic Tagalog adobo is prepared with Datu Puti (a form of white rice-wine vinegar) - the flavour is softer than regular vinegar - (use 1 cup Datu Puti and 1 cup water), add a splash of soy (for colour) and the same amount of fish sauce, several cloves of garlic, bay leaves and black pepper corns. No need to brown meat first. Just put all in a saucepan, cover and simmer gently until the liquid is reduced by half. Remove the meat and garlic (save the liquid) and fry gently until it's brown and crispy on the outside. Pour juices over the meat and serve with steamed rice. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 211.29.7.207 (talk • contribs) .

I totally agree that traditional Philippine adobo does not contain either potatoes or blackbean paste -- I wonder what region in the Philippines the author came from. I grew up in Manila eating adobo, and my Mom is a fantastic cook, and have never ever eaten (or cooked) adobo with potatoes and black bean sauce! I find apple cider vinegar too strong, so I normally use a lighter variety - if you can't find Datu Puti, you may dilute the apple cider vinegar with a bit of water. I also like to add a teaspoon or so of a good white wine, for added flavor. To comment on using 1 cup vinegar and 1 cup water: that sounds like too much -- you might end up have adobo soup, unless you're using tons of meat. Also, some people prefer dry adobo, which is achieved by frying the meat in a little oil after it has been tenderized by simmering and not adding back the simmer sauce; or a wetter version, when you add back some or all of the simmer sauce after frying the meat. Serve with plenty of steaming white rice. Yum! [ChefMom]