CHICKEN ADOBO

If there's gonna be a national dish of the Philippines this would be it. Each and every filipino household has it's own version of this dish that it's very rare for a true-blue pinoy to not have eaten adobo in his entire life. Adobo is distinctly pinoy yet it is very diverse and flexible especially when it comes to ingredients. Generally speaking adobo in it's basic form is meat stewed in vinegar, soy sauce and garlic. Almost any kind of meat can be made into adobo: pork, chicken, beef, goat, duck, squid, fish, oyster, frog, etc. etc. There's even vegetable variations of adobo like adobong kangkong (water spinach) and adobong sitaw (string beans). Some adobo recipes omit the soy sauce, some have coconut milk, some with annatto, some has onion, some with ginger, some with mashed chicken liver or liver spread, some use tomatoes, some includes boiled eggs and some even add shrimp paste. Adobo can be cooked soupy or almost dry. Recently there's even sizzling, baked and ala steak. Whatever your preference is nobody can deny that adobo is one of the ultimate filipino comfort food that spells home.

This adobo I'm gonna share with you is actually my hubby's recipe. He's not that adept in the kitchen but admittedly he cooks a killer adobo superior to mine.

What's In It:

2 lbs. chicken (preferably dark meat), cut into serving pieces
5-6 whole cloves of garlic
8-10 black peppercorn
1 c. vinegar
1 c. soy sauce
2-3 pieces of bay leaf

How It's Done:
1. Mix vinegar and soy sauce in a bowl. Adjust according to taste.
2. Place chicken in a flat wide-bottom pan or pot. Arrange the chicken pieces in such that they form a single layer.
3. Pour the soy-vinegar mixture over the chicken pieces. Add in the remaining ingredients.
4. Cook over medium heat. Refrain from stirring for the first 10-15 minutes.
5. You may need to turn the chicken pieces on it's other side to make sure the soy-vinegar gets all through out the chicken.
6. Continue simmering until sauce thickens.

A real adobo connoisseur knows that this dish is best eaten the following day or a few days after.

Chicken Miswa Soup

A very simple dish perfect for a rainy day or the colder months. This can be served any time of day as long as it's served hot. The miswa can also be substituted with sotanghon or lomi noodles just adjust the cooking time a bit longer.

What's in it:
Chicken pieces
1 carrot sliced into stripes/ diced
2 stalks of celery sliced thinly/diced
2 cloves garlic minced
half of a medium onion diced
thumb-size ginger sliced into quarters
miswa
water
2 eggs, beaten
salt and pepper

For garnish: toasted garlic and green onions

How It's Done:

Saute garlic and ginger then add in chicken pieces. Season with a little salt and pepper. Cover and cook until chicken is tender and the liquid in the pot is gone. Add in onion, carrots and celery. Saute until onion turns translucent. Add water and let simmer until the vegetables are fully cooked. Again season the soup with salt and pepper according to your desired taste. add in miswa simmer for 5 minutes. Add more water if necessary. Stir in eggs just before turning off the stove. Serve with or without garnish.

BACON WRAPPED CHICKEN AND CRAB FRIED RICE

Ok I admit it, I'm obviously a fan of this sweet meat called pork. I do eat my vegetables but I am more of a meat person. And my meat of preference? That glistening, fat laden, tender, juicy cut of porcine goodness. When we came here in America I vehemently experienced pork withdrawal that even a bowl of chicken adobo can't cure. Good thing there's good ol' bacon. Fried bacon for breakfast, bacon on my salad, bacon on my pasta, bacon in my sandwich.... bacon.. bacon.. bacon.
I've tried chicken liver, shrimps and asparagus wrapped in bacon so why not chicken.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken
What's in it:
2 pcs. Chicken Breasts cut into 1/2 inch strips
Bacon (I prefer the honey cured or maple flavored)
1 tbsp Lemon juice
A pinch of salt
A pinch of pepper

How It's Done:
Mix salt, pepper and lemon juice. Pour lemon mixture over chicken, mix to coat the strips. Wrap bacon by winding spirally on chicken strips. Shallow fry on medium heat.

Crab Fried Rice
What's in it:
4 c. Cooked (boiled) rice
1/2 c. Cooked crab meat
2 cloves Garlic minced
1/2 Onion diced
2 Eggs (scrambled, fried and cut into thin strips)
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. cooking oil
Salt

How It's Done:
Saute garlic in oil until light brown. Add in onion and saute until translucent. Put in soy sauce then rice. Mix until soy sauce is evenly distributed over the rice. Put crab meat and eggs. Add salt to taste. Continue cooking and mixing for 5 min.

CHICKEN INASAL

Isa munang buntong hininga

Time to marinate again. Nothing like a good mixture of liquids and spices seeping into every grain of meat to give that unique and intense flavor. Am I into too much of that marinade stuff or what?!
Anyhoo, always remember to taste your marinade first so you can adjust the seasonings before putting in the meat. Why before and not after adding the meat you ask? Well, have you tasted a marinade with RAW meat in it? Trust me you don't want to 'coz it tastes like....ewww!

What's In It:
Chicken pieces

Marinade:
Soy sauce
Brown sugar
Coconut vinegar
Lemongrass
Garlic
Lemon juice
Cracked black pepper

Basting sauce:
Star margarine
Achuete oil
Soy sauce

Dipping sauce:
Coconut vinegar
Garlic
Onion
Chili pepper

Combine all ingredients for marinade. Marinate chicken for 3-4 hours. Grill chicken and baste generously.
Serve with garlic rice and dipping sauce on the side.

CHICKEN ALA BISTEK TAGALOG

Isa munang buntong hininga

I wasn't able to measure the ingredients again. But don't sweat it this is just a very easy-peasy recipe. You just have to make sure you got the marinade right. How? Well simple, mix the marinade and do a taste test before putting in the meat. That way you have a clue on how your bistek will taste like. If this step fails you can always adjust the seasoning during cooking.

What's In It:
Chicken pieces
Soy sauce
Calamansi/Lemon juice
Onion
Garlic
Salt
Pepper

How It's Done
Mix soy sauce, calamansi juice and onion.Marinate chicken in soy -calamansi marinade for 30mins to an hour. Fry garlic in 1 tbsp oil unti browned. Remove from pan and set aside. Add in chicken slightly brown sides. Pour in marinade and simmer until chicken are fully cooked. Adjust seasoning. Stir in garlic bits before serving.

PINEAPPLE CHICKEN STEW

Isa munang buntong hininga

What's In It:
4 pcs. Chicken Breasts, cut into chunks
2 cloves Garlic, sliced
1/4 Onion, sliced
1 Carrot, sliced
1 Bell Pepper, sliced
2 stalks Celery, sliced
1 can Pineapple chunks, reserve syrup
2 tbsp. Soy sauce
3 tbsp. Tomato paste
Salt
Pepper
Chicken Stock

How It's Done:
Combine pineapple syrup, soy sauce and tomato paste. Marinate chicken in pineapple-soy mixture for an hour. Saute garlic and onion. Add in bell pepper, celery and carrots. Put in chicken with marinate. Simmer until chicken is cooked through. Add pineapple chunks and chicken stock. Season with salt and pepper.

CALDERETANG MANOK

Isa munang buntong hininga

If your familiar with calderetang baka this recipe is no different except for the substitution of chicken for the beef.

What's In It:
chicken pieces
1 small can tomato sauce
2 tbsp. tomato paste
3/4 c. chicken liver
1/4 c. sweet pickles, crushed pineapple can also be used
1 bell pepper
1 carrot
green peas
garlic
onion
salt pepper
green olives (optional)

Place chicken livers in pot with a few cloves of garlic, salt and pepper. Cook thoroughly. Let cool then mash.

How It's Done:
Saute garlic and onion. Add in chicken and brown sides. Put in the vegetables followed by the tomato sauce, tomato paste and chicken liver. Simmer until chicken pieces are cooked through. Put in the sweet pickles and season with salt and pepper. Turn off heat then add the olives.

CHICKEN KEBOBS

Chicken Kebobs

What's In It:
chicken thighs and breasts, deboned and cut into bite size pieces
pineapple chunks, reserve syrup
liquid barbeque marinade
spring onions, cut into 2" lengths
garlic

How It's Done:
Combine barbeque marinade, pineapple syrup, spring onion and garlic. Put chicken in marinade and let stand for at least four hours. Skewer alternately chicken, pineapple and spring onions. Grill.

Oven Roasted Chicken

Roast Chicken

Wash and clean the chicken thoroughly (don't be a pilosopo and ask me if you need soap for that ok). Pat dry with paper towels. O di ba bagong ligo na ang manok nyo, time to dress it up. You can use a simple dry rub of salt, ground balck pepper, garlic and onion powder. Or you can also use Italian or French Salad dressings, para mas vonggacious ang chicken. Place a few pieces of sliced onion, garlic, ginger and bay leaf in the cavity of the chicken. Thyme, basil and rosemary can also be used. I also placed some chopped garlic under the skin of the chicken (in between skin and meat) for extra measure. Oven broil or bake for 45 min-1 hour, depending on the size of the chicken.

Chicken Pochero

I remembered this recipe from one of the local cooking shows I used to watch on weekends back home. With just a few pieces of chicken, pochero makes perfect sense because of the different "extenders" in the dish. But I had to make a few adjustments since I didn't have any chorizo and eggplants in stock. I used vienna sausage in place of the chorizo and made the dish with a lot more sauce than usual ( my kids prefer dishes with sabaw to go with their rice). We usually serve soupy viands with the soup on the side and the meat and veggies in another plate/bowl.

Chicken Pochero

Ingredients:

Chicken cut into serving pieces
Saba (plantain) bananas sliced diagonally about 1/2 inch thick
Sweet potatoes sliced into 1/2 inch thick rounds
onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic,sliced
Carrots sliced diagonally
10-15 leaves of chinese cabbage
Vienna sausage cut in half, reserve the broth
1 /2 c. of tomato sauce
1 c. water
salt
pepper

Shallow fry the bananas, sweet potato and chicken until sides turn slightly brown. Drain in paper towels.
In a pot, saute the garlic and onions. Add the chicken, carrots, tomato sauce , broth from the vienna sausage and water. Simmer . Add the rest of the ingredients. Season with salt and pepper. I usually add a pinch or two of sugar whenever I use tomato sauce or tomato paste , I think it somehow balances the acidity.

Ready-to-cook Crispy Fried Chicken

Back in the Philippines, I would watch the Daza's cooking show every weekend. The recipes were quite easy to follow and the ingredients could be certainly bought at the local supermarket,yet I wasn't able to cook any of them. I was a little lazy in writting them down (hey, what do you expect weekends are supposed to be rest days). But I do remember a few tips in cooking.
In one particular show, Mr. Sandy Daza mentioned how to have a ready-to-cook fried chicken with a really crispy skin .

Steamed Chicken

I marinated the chicken in some minced garlic, salt and pepper for about 30 min. inside the fridge. I then dredged it in cornstarch seasoned with onion and garlic powder (you can also add any powdered spices or seasoning to the cornstarch). Steam for 30 min. or more depending on the size of the chicken. Cool the chicken.
Place chicken in ziploc bag or any tightly-sealed freezable container.
If you feel like eating fried chicken or have very-unexpected guests just thaw the chicken in the microwave then deep-fry.