Chicken Adobo, Take 2

I know that I have posted about Chicken Adobo (and Pork Adobo) before, but I like it so much and there are so many variations that I couldn't help myself when I saw this recipe on the NY Times website.  Chicken Adobo is delicious.  And it just seems altogether too appropriate to slowly braise chicken while it's dark and frigid and gloomy outside.  Plus Alex went to the grocery the other day and came home with like a gallon of cider vinegar so I have been trying to come up with recipes to use up vast quantities of vinegar.  Adobo seemed like the perfect solution!  I know this isn't a HUGE deviation from the last version that we prepared, except that we used different ratios of soy to coconut milk, and cider vinegar instead of rice vinegar, but I figured we would try it and maybe it would taste exactly the same or maybe the flavor would change a little.  Who knew?

I had no idea that the difference between the two versions of the dish that we have made could be so immediately apparent.  As much as I liked the last version we made, this one was just that much better.  The chicken was just so much more flavorful.  There was more tang and sourness from the vinegar than in our last version, more garlic flavor, and more heat from the chilis.  The sauce was also much richer and more complex.  I also felt that boiling it and condensing the sauce really served to concentrate the flavors - we only used 1/4 cup of soy sauce and no salt, but it was just beautiful and perfectly seasoned.  For a dish that requires so few ingredients and nothing esoteric (with the exception of the bird's-eye chilis, which we substituted jalapenos for), it is an amazingly delicious and complex dish.  It is also very easy to make, as all you have to do is throw the ingredients together in the fridge to marinate and then toss them into a pot to braise for half an hour.  After the chicken is fully cooked you throw it under the broiler until the skin crisps up while you reduce the braising liquid.  Then you serve the chicken over some white rice with a sprinkling of scallions on top.  And voila - an absolutely fabulous meal.

Recipe after the jump!

Chicken Adobo

NY Times

Adapted from Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan, Purple Yam restaurant, Brooklyn

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup coconut milk

¼ cup soy sauce

1½ cup rice vinegar (we used cider vinegar)

12 garlic cloves, peeled

3 whole bird’s-eye chilies or other fiery chili (we used 2 jalapenos that we cut in half because that was all we had in the fridge)

3 bay leaves

1½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

3 to 4 pounds chicken thighs (we used 3 lbs)

Combine all of the marinade ingredients in a large, nonreactive bowl or resealable plastic freezer bag. Add the chicken and turn to coat. Refrigerate overnight or for at least 2 hours.

Place chicken and marinade in a large lidded pot or Dutch oven over high heat and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and tender, around 30 minutes.

Heat broiler. Transfer chicken pieces to a large bowl, raise heat under the pot to medium-high, and reduce the sauce until it achieves almost the consistency of cream, about 10 minutes. Remove bay leaves and chilies.

Place chicken pieces on a roasting pan and place under broiler for 5 to 7 minutes, until they begin to caramelize. Remove, turn chicken, baste with sauce and repeat, 3 to 5 minutes more. Return chicken to sauce and cook for a few minutes more, then place on a platter and drizzle heavily with sauce.