Adobo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adobo is the Spanish word for seasoning or marinade. The noun form is used to describe the actual marinade or seasoning mix, and the term used for a meat which has been marinated or seasoned with an adobo is referred to having been adobada.
Adobo is also a term used as the name for a common dish in the Philippines, typically made from pork or chicken or a combination of both. It is slow-cooked in soy sauce, vinegar, crushed garlic, bay leaf, and black peppercorns, and often browned in the oven or pan-fried afterwards to get the desirable crisped edges. This dish originates from the northern region of the Philippines.
It is one of the first dishes Filipinos learn to cook as it is simple and requires just a handful of ingredients. In good-tasting adobo, none of the spice flavors dominates but rather the taste is a delicate balance of all the ingredients. As with most dishes, there will be slight variations in the ratios of the ingredients or the cooking process, and the cook's unique touch is impressed upon the final outcome.
Adobo is a very common packed food for Filipino mountaineers and travellers because of its relatively longer shelf-life. This stems from the vinegar content which inhibits the growth of bacteria.
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[edit] Varieties
Like many Filipino dishes, there are many variations of adobo. The most widely preferred traditionally is pork adobo, followed by chicken adobo-- although chicken adobo is very popular these days for health reasons. Other ingredients such as squid, beef, lamb, game fowl like quail and snipe, catfish, okra, eggplant, string beans, and water spinach (kangkong) are also made into adobo, using a variety of recipes. Squid adobo (adobong pusit) for instance is quite different. While most adobos have a brownish sauce, squid adobo, due to its ink, has a deep purplish black sauce, not unlike the Spanish dish calamares en su tinta.
Combinations of several main ingredients are also done from time to time in local kitchenettes, cafeterias, and households. Typical combinations include adobo made with pork and string beans, or pork/chicken adobo with hard-cooked eggs.
Another notable variation of adobo includes coconut milk in its ingredients. Coconut milk gives the sauce a creamy pastel color and a milky thickness.
Then there is the adobo of the Chinese-Filipino community, made with the addition of distinctively chinese ingredients such as star anise, rock sugar, and even rice wine.
Also, the beef adobo of Batangas province, often made with a typical mexican ingredient, the earthy red-coloured spice, achiote (atchuete in the Philippines), also known as annatto.
Another noteworthy style is the pinatuyo or, literally, dried method. In this method, the traditional pork or chicken in the adobo is dried of its sauce by slow-frying, resulting in a delicious caramelization of the meat and the creation of the much desired crispy bits that go so well with a plate of freshly cooked, steaming hot rice. This style of adobo has parallels with the Mexican pork dish called carnitas, which employs a similar cooking method.
A sweet variety can be attained by adding sugar, or sweet orange juice or pineapple juice. And yet another variant would be the addition of hot chilli peppers.
The standard accompaniments to adobo -- and ultimate comfort meal for many Filipinos-- are mung bean stew (monggo guisado) and lots of white rice. Unless of course, adobo is eaten for breakfast, in which case, fried or scrambled eggs, garlic-fried rice, chopped tomato &onion salad, and atchara (green papaya pickle) are the tradition.
[edit] Popularity
Adobo, perhaps, is the most popular and most distinguished among all Filipino cuisines. It has been made reference to in the movie American Adobo and has been a name given to some Filipino sitcom performers. A number of successful local Philippine snack products usually mark their items "Adobo-flavored." This assortment includes, but is not limited to, nuts, chips, and corn crackers.
During the 1990s, a Philippine instant food company, Nissin-Monde, made an adobo-flavored instant stir-fry noodle. The product has met a limited commercial success, though, given its strong ties to Philippine culture.
Adobo is eaten by virtually all Filipinos, regardless of social standing, home province or region. There are as many versions of adobo as there are Filipino families. Because of its long shelf life (improving in flavour in the days after it is first cooked) and adapability to different usages (eg. with steamed rice for lunch or dinner, in sandwiches when you're on the go, crisp-fried and served for breakfast with eggs and garlic rice) adobo is often the first thing to go into the picnic hamper whenever Filipinos go to the beach or on holiday. It is for all intents and purposes the national dish of the Philippines.
[edit] Trivia
- The Black Eyed Peas's apl.de.ap, a Filipino-American, has a song called Bebot that mentions his life in the barrio wherein his food is usually Chicken Adobo.
