We've had the Memories of Philippine Kitchens book on our shelf for some time now, ever since I got a complimentary copy at a work event. I've always wanted to investigate the recipes in that book, as we're not that familiar with Filipino cuisine, but never got around to it. When the theme for Week 26 was announced - the Philippines - I knew that I wouldn't have to go searching around the internet for recipes. I had the perfect book at home already!
CHICKEN ADOBO
Adobo is one of the most famous dishes in Filipino cuisine. We've never had it before, so it seemed like the most logical choice for the challenge. It was also one of the few dishes in the book that I was confident that I had the materials and ingredients to make. Surveying a bunch of adobo recipes, this seems like a fairly standard combination, other than the coconut milk, which sounds like a regional variation. We were happy to be able to try a traditional version for our first time.
The marinade for the adobo consisted of:
- 1.5 cups rice vinegar ($1.50)
- 1 cup coconut milk ($0.50)
- 1/4 cup soy sauce ($0.35)
- 1 head of garlic (plus a couple extra cloves), crushed ($0.20)
- 3 bay leaves ($0.10)
- 1.5 tsp freshly ground black pepper ($0.10)
Once the marinade was mixed together, I cut up and added 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts and 2 boneless skinless chicken thighs (about $4, bringing the chicken side of this to about $6.75) to the bowl. I refrigerated it for about 5-6 hours. I was hoping to marinate the meat overnight but some of the chicken was still frozen and I didn't want to be up until 2 am waiting for it to thaw. When we were ready to start cooking, I just transferred the marinade and chicken into a Dutch oven and turned the heat up to high.
After the mixture starts boiling, you reduce the heat to a simmer, and let the chicken cook, stirring every so often to make sure the chicken stays covered. After about 20 minutes, the chicken should be cooked and tender. At that point, transfer the chicken to a separate bowl or plate, and turn the heat up to medium high to allow the sauce to reduce. I let it go for quite a while until it was very thick.
Once the sauce was the thickness I was looking for, I put the chicken back into the pot and coated it with the sauce, waiting for the rice to be done. The way I had timed everything, I thought both the chicken and the rice would be done at the same time, but I was wrong.
Cooking chicken adobo is basically braising it in a vinegar-based sauce. I really like braising as a cooking technique, so this was right up my alley. We liked the chicken adobo, but the vinegar was definitely very heavy. We like vinegar, but this was a ton of vinegar! That said, this recipe felt like a success. The only thing that was weird was that the garlic was still a little hard and crunchy after all that braising. I was expecting it to be soft like roasted garlic, but it wasn't at all. Is that how it should be?
MUSHROOM AND BAMBOO SHOOT RICE
According to the book's authors, they serve their chicken adobo with this mushroom and bamboo shoot rice. Well, if they do that, why shouldn't I do the same? I had all the ingredients already, since I bought a can of bamboo shoots ages ago and stocked up on shiitake mushrooms in Chicago, so it was a great idea for an accompaniment. I changed it up a little bit by using brown rice instead of jasmine rice, but otherwise only made small adaptations. Since there were only 2 of us, we probably shouldn't have made the full 3 cups of rice since we still have some leftovers, but lesson for next time.
For the rice, we used:
- 3 cups brown rice ($2)
- 2 spoonfuls of coconut oil for sauteing ($0.30)
- 1 onion, finely chopped ($0.60)
- 2 small carrots, small dice ($0.40)
- 4 garlic cloves, minced ($0.10)
- a few handfuls of dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated, stemmed and thinly sliced ($1.25)
- 1 can (10 oz drained) of bamboo shoots, chopped ($1)
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric ($0.12)
- 6.5 cups of water (including water from rehydrating the mushrooms) ($0)
- salt and pepper to taste ($0.10)
The rice portion came out to about $5.87, which meant the total for dinner was about $12.62. Not terrible considering we had rice for days and days, so much that we still haven't finished it and I'm not sure if it's any good anymore.
According to the recipe, the rice should have taken 30-35 minutes to cook. I'm not sure if it's because we used brown rice instead of jasmine, but in order for it to fully cook through, it took us closer to an hour and I had to add more water halfway through. The basic steps were:
- 3 cups brown rice ($2)
- 2 spoonfuls of coconut oil for sauteing ($0.30)
- 1 onion, finely chopped ($0.60)
- 2 small carrots, small dice ($0.40)
- 4 garlic cloves, minced ($0.10)
- a few handfuls of dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated, stemmed and thinly sliced ($1.25)
- 1 can (10 oz drained) of bamboo shoots, chopped ($1)
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric ($0.12)
- 6.5 cups of water (including water from rehydrating the mushrooms) ($0)
- salt and pepper to taste ($0.10)
The rice portion came out to about $5.87, which meant the total for dinner was about $12.62. Not terrible considering we had rice for days and days, so much that we still haven't finished it and I'm not sure if it's any good anymore.
According to the recipe, the rice should have taken 30-35 minutes to cook. I'm not sure if it's because we used brown rice instead of jasmine, but in order for it to fully cook through, it took us closer to an hour and I had to add more water halfway through. The basic steps were:
1. Heat coconut oil in large saucepan.
2. Add onion and carrot. Cook over medium high heat until softened.
3. Add garlic. Cook another minute.
4. Add mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and turmeric. Cook until mushrooms give off liquid. (I forgot the turmeric here but added it in the next step instead. Not sure if that makes a difference.)
2. Add onion and carrot. Cook over medium high heat until softened.
3. Add garlic. Cook another minute.
4. Add mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and turmeric. Cook until mushrooms give off liquid. (I forgot the turmeric here but added it in the next step instead. Not sure if that makes a difference.)
5. Add (washed) rice and water (4.5 cups). Add salt and pepper, and bring to boil over high heat.
6. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium low, cover, and simmer until liquid is absorbed.
7. If rice still needs to cook longer, add more water and continue to simmer until liquid is absorbed.
8. Take pan off heat and fluff rice. Cover and let stand. Adjust seasonings if necessary (I should have added more salt and pepper.)
6. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium low, cover, and simmer until liquid is absorbed.
7. If rice still needs to cook longer, add more water and continue to simmer until liquid is absorbed.
8. Take pan off heat and fluff rice. Cover and let stand. Adjust seasonings if necessary (I should have added more salt and pepper.)
The rice was okay. It was really good with the adobo, but on its own, it was a bit boring. It was nice having rice with vegetables in it and the texture was okay, but it wasn't that flavorful on its own.
WEEK 26 OVERALL
This was my first time cooking Filipino cuisine and I think it went well. We enjoyed the adobo with its thick tangy sauce on top of the rice, but didn't love the rice on its own because of the lack of seasoning. Overall, it was good though.
Would we make this again? Maybe. We liked it but when it comes to braising chicken, we preferred the carbonnade from Belgian week a bit more since the chicken wasn't drowning in vinegar and probably would make that again first. I'd like to try cooking more Filipino dishes, maybe some pancit or lumpia. It's definitely a cuisine I want to learn more about.
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