The Best Adobong Manok Recipe (Filipino Braised Chicken Adobo)

If you were to ask anyone if they knew a Filipino dish, it would be this one! Adobong Manok (Chicken Adobo) is a dish that is foundational in Filipino cuisine.

Adobong Manok, or chicken adobo, is a comforting Filipino braised chicken dish. The base sauce is an umami combination of garlic, soy sauce, and vinegar. It is typically served with rice and vegetables.

We normally cook Adobong Manok by heart. It’s a dish that we’ve eaten our entire lives. But we wanted an easy written recipe for you all to learn and try at home!

Adobo is usually cooked in a big pot. Since it’s very cost-effective and easy to batch, this dish is great for everyday meal prepping or feeding large families.

For more comforting Filipino recipes, explore our blog and try recipes like Beef Caldereta or Kare Kare Fried Chicken Wings!

Keep reading for the recipe!

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Table of Contents

History and Culture of Adobong Manok (Chicken Adobo)

Chicken adobo is the “unofficial” national dish of the Philippines. Chicken adobo is special because its roots are traced back to indigenous Philippines. It also highlights star ingredients of Filipino cuisine – soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, and bay leaves.

You’ll see adobo made in various forms with countless ingredients, toppings, or sides. The Philippines is made up of many islands and provinces that make their adobo differently.

There is adobong puti, where adobo is made with white vinegar and no soy sauce. There is also a “dry” adobo where the meat is marinated then cooked in a pan, and served without sauce.

Not only that, but recipes vary between families too. Everyone has their own unique take on chicken adobo. Some people use orange juice, sprite, coconut milk, or some other “secret” ingredient.

We don’t know any person who cooks adobo the same as another, and that’s the beauty of it!

How to Eat Chicken Adobo

To eat chicken adobo, serve with white rice and grilled or steamed vegetables.

When eating adobo that is stewed, take some sabaw (broth or stew liquid) and pour it on top of white rice. Some prefer to add just a little sauce to the rice, others prefer to generously pour sauce on top until it’s soupy.

Use a fork and spoon to cut the chicken, then push everything onto your spoon so you’ll get chicken, rice, and sauce in every bite!

Here’s our favorite way to eat adobo: with bananas!

Eating chicken adobo with fresh sliced bananas is something very special that Noelle’s family does (to our knowledge).

To this day, we don’t know any other Filipinos who eat adobo this way. The usual response is shock and surprise.

We asked Noelle’s lola (grandmother) why we eat it this way, and she explained that it’s because she grew up in the region of Pampanga. She said that’s where they always ate banana with their adobo.

We’ve tried researching and asking around to learn more, but have not found any info to confirm that this is really a Kapampangan way to eat adobo. If you know anything about chicken adobo with banana, please let us know in the comments or DM us!

Edit: we finally found one family who also eats adobo with banana!! They are also Kapampangan. Thanks Mikee and fam for confirming! <3

That being said, we encourage you to give banana a try. It gives a sweet contrast to the savory chicken, and it truly is something we personally love and recommend!

Perfect Pot by Our Place

Before we get into the recipe, we’d like to give a shoutout to one of our sponsors, Our Place! They recently launched the Perfect Pot – a pot that’s thoughtfully designed to multifunction for boiling, roasting, steaming, straining, and dutch oven!

Its lightweight and large capacity makes this pot very homecook friendly. Additionally, we actually like to travel with this pot when going on big family trips or camping.

We used the Perfect Pot to cook our adobo! Even with the family-sized serving we cooked for ourselves, the Perfect Pot had no problem holding everything and still with room to spare. And of course, the adobo turned out delicious!

Shop the Perfect Pot now at Our Place!

Ingredients

• 5 cloves garlic sliced or whole
• 1 cup white onion sliced
• oil for the pan
• 5 lbs chicken thigh or drumsticks with bone and skin
• 1 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1 cup white cane vinegar (datu puti)
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp black peppercorns whole
• 1 cup water
• 3 small bay leaves

Serving

• fried garlic
• green onion
• white rice
• steamed or grilled vegetables
• fresh bananas sliced

Datu puti is a brand that produces Filipino white cane vinegar. Regular white vinegar is also fine, but we recommend sticking to Filipino ingredients due to a slight difference in taste.

Filipino soy sauce and white cane vinegar are often sold in a combo pack, which is perfect for making adobo. You can find them at local asian grocers or here on Amazon!

Recipe

Prepare the braising sauce

1. In a mixing bowl, combine onion, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, water, peppercorns, and bay leaves. Stir well and set aside.

Prepare and sear the chicken

1. Heat a pot over medium-high heat. Add oil. Sear the chicken until they begin to brown and the fat renders. Remove chicken from the pot and set aside. To prevent overcrowding, use an extra pan or cast iron to sear more chicken.
2. Add garlic and onion to the pot. Cook in the chicken oil until fragrant.
3. Add the chicken back in to the pot.

Braise the chicken adobo

1. Add adobo sauce.
2. Bring the pot to a boil then adjust the heat to maintain a low boil.

3. Cover and let it braise for at least 1 hour. Stir occasionally and skim off excess fat. If you want a thicker sauce, braise for up to 2 hours.

Serve

1. Top with fried garlic and green onions. Serve with rice, steamed or grilled vegetables, and fresh banana slices. Ladle some sabaw (stew sauce) on top of the rice.

Tips on cooking Chicken Adobo

• Although not required, the longer your cook time, the thicker and richer the sauce will be.
• To lower the fat content for a slightly healthier dish, remove half of the chicken skins before cooking. You can also skim off the fat during braising.
• For slow cooking, cook on low for 6 hours.

Final Thoughts

When you think about Filipino food, this dish is often what comes to mind. The ingredients are very affordable and convenient to cook in large portions, so you can use this recipe to feed you and your loved ones.

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this recipe, please give a star rating and review on the recipe card below + share your creations on Instagram and tag us @itsforkandspoon!

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References & Further Reading

https://theculturetrip.com/asia/philippines/articles/a-brief-history-of-adobo-the-philippines-national-dish/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_adobo