#328_Lemongrass Pork Adobo (Adobo with Tanglad)

Pork Adobo with Tanglad or Lemon Grass
Oppppsy!! I didn't have fresh lemongrass to garnish the adobo,
so I just used some sprigs of rosemary to break up the boring look of brown adobo.

My whole house smelled so aromatic while this adobo was simmering in the pot.
It smelled lemony from the lemon grass that I added into the adobo ingredients.
The 3 stalks was just enough to enhance the flavor of this basic adobo recipe.

"Dump Adobo"

There's a dessert called "Dump Cake", so-called because all the ingredients are dumped in a baking pan then thrown in the oven to bake. Incredibly easy! even kids can make this cake without any trouble (only if they're old enough and responsible enough to turn the oven on and off).

This adobo recipe is like the "dump cake" where you dump everything in a pot,
bring it to a boil then let it simmer.
Or... you can even transfer it in a crock pot to let it simmer.

Here's the recipe:

3-1/2 lbs. pork, cut up into chunks
(I used country style spare ribs which has lesser fat than pork belly)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tb brown sugar
1 can sprite, (my family's secret ingredient, now revealed)
5-6 cloves garlic, peeled then crushed
3 stalks lemon grass or tanglad, crushed*
1 Tb black peppercorns
3 bay leaves

Marinate the meat....
Put everything in large glass bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours up to overnight. (The picture shows the lemon grass, garlic, peppers, bay leaves are on the surface, but I stirred all of those ingredients together with the meat and the liquid)

Transfer the meat mixture into a pot, bring it to a boil, put lid on then simmer on low heat without stirring for an hour or until the meat is tender. This is super, super easy to make and yet it is so delish.

KAIN NA!!

*NOTE:
Refer to this link, click here on how to cook with lemon grass.

Other Adobo Recipes:
Here are recipes for other variations of adobo :
http://pinoyamericanrecipes.blogspot.com/2008/10/fake-chicken-adobo.html

http://pinoyamericanrecipes.blogspot.com/2009/01/pork-adobo.html

#62_Pork Adobo

PORK ADOBO with a little twist

I added Oyster Sauce,
a non-traditional ingredient to a Pinoy Adobo

The preparation starts with the basic sauteing of garlic and chopped onions in a little canola oil. When the onions are translucent, add the meat and continue to saute.

My mother taught me to saute the meat (pork or chicken) really well before adding any water into the pan. By sauteing the meat really well means when clear juice starts coming out of the meat or in other words the meat starts to render its own fats, you have sauteed the meat really well. After sauteing the meat really well, you can add some water, soy sauce, oyster sauce, apple cider vinegar, peppercorns, crushed garlic and bay leaves. Cover the pot and simmer for about 30 to 45 minutes till the meat is tender, adding some water or broth when necessary.

If doing a combination of chicken-pork adobo, I would suggest to simmer them separately as chicken gets cooked faster than pork and then combine the two.




This is one of those cooking sessions that I do without measuring the ingredients. I call it eyeballing or free style. But I will post a recipe and approximate measurements of ingredients to serve as guidelines. ( On this particular adobo, I didn't put much sauce (it had some, not a lot) in it because I was going to use it for SIOPAO fillings (siopao recipe coming up).

I used some meat from a pork loin (for roast pork) when I made this. You can use any cut of pork like pork chops or whatever you have. Filipinos like to have some fat in their pork adobo and often use pork belly.

Ingredients for Pork Adobo or Chicken Adobo:

2lbs. pork, washed and cubed or chicken thighs, drumstick or cut up stewing chicken

3 tbsp canola oil for sauteing

1 small onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 cup water

3-4 tbsp. soy sauce

3-4 tbsp. oyster sauce

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

3 cloves garlic, crushed

peppercorns

bay leaves

1/2 cup sprite or 7-Up (secret ingredient, now revealed)

NOTES from MaMely:

1) Here's another secret that I will share:

Ususally the night before, I marinate the cubed pork or chicken in soy sauce, sprite and crushed garlic.

When ready to cook, I discard the marinade and proceed to sauteing. Marinating makes the meat so full of flavor.

2) I was watching a show on the food network, "Ask Aida", Aida was making an Asian dish called Shuyo Chicken, and she put all of the ingredients in a pot and simmered it for 30 minutes until the sauce was cooked downed
.

So here's an idea: I've never done it this way before, but from what I saw from Aida, I guess after marinating the meat overnight, (she didn't marinate her chicken though) you can cook the adobo just like she did her dish specially when you're pressed with time....just an idea!

Update: 11-11-11
Here's a recipe for Lemongrass Adobo, click here.

#19_Fake Chicken Adobo

Mamasita's Oyster Sauce and Yoshida's Sauce

I don't want to sound like I'm endorsing these brands. I'm not! Actually,I'm not into brands. Often times I buy the generic stuffs. But let me share my little discoveries with you. I've tried different brands of oyster sauce and found the Mamasitas brand to be the best, so far. The difference is that Mamasitas uses natural or real oysters, other brands say on their labels: flavored oyster sauce. But beware though, it has 82% sodium! that's awfully high!

Yoshida sauce has a sweet and savory taste with garlic and some spices not revealed on the label, of course, and has lower sodium content than the oyster sauce. I only find them at Costco. Again, I'm not trying to endorse Costco, (I'm not getting paid by these guys), but that's the only place I know who sells them aside from Sam's club.

The combination of these two sauces makes a lot of difference in this recipe. I've tried using one without the other and the result wasn't satisfactory for me. I guess in areas where the Yoshida is not available you can just use oyster sauce by itself. But because of the salt content you have to use just a little, about 3 tablespoons, and more liquid (soda), therefore, the color of the sauce will be a little pale. Oyster sauce is very excellent in stir fry dishes too.

Rotisserie Chicken from Costco

In my opinion, Costco has the best rotisserie chicken, unlike others, Costco's have mild seasonings which when use to make this recipe, blends really well with the sauces. Again, I've tried other chicken of the kind from other stores but they have too much dry rubs.

The Fake Chicken Adobo

I know you're wondering, is there such a thing?

When my 3 year old nephew first arrived here in the US, he was having a hard time with the food. I took him to McDonalds and he said "ba-aw, sabaw!" Ba-aw is Pangasinan for kanin (cooked white rice) and sabaw is sauce or gravy. He wanted to eat only rice and sauce! I asked his mother what kind of sauce? She explained to me that whenever they went to "MacDo" all he ate was rice with the adobo sauce. I didn't even know that McDonalds in the Philippines serves adobo and rice.

One time they came over, he asked me if I had some adobo sauce. I didn't want to go to the store to buy the chicken because the weather was bad. I scrounged around the freezer and all I found was some rotisserie chicken. I thawed out the chicken in the microwave and cooked it with some yoshida sauce, combined with some oyster sauce. He ate it with gusto! His mom said that I faked him out.

This recipe beats Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meal because you'll have adobo on your table for less than 25 minutes. No kidding! That's because the chicken is fully cooked and if cooked longer than needed they'll fall apart.

Okay, are you ready?

CHICKEN ADOBO:

1 (3 lb.) rotisserie chicken, cut up to serving pieces

1 medium onion, sliced

4 TB canola oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup Yoshida sauce

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar

3 TB oyster sauce

freshly cracked peppercorns

1 cup 7-up or sprite, not diet

Procedure:

1. In a large saute pan, heat oil and brown the garlic. Add the sliced onions. Saute until onions are limp and translucent.

2. Add in the cut up chicken pieces and continue to saute gently for about 5 minutes.

3. Add the sauces, the vinegar and the peppercorns. Cover and continue to simmer for about 5 minutes

4. Pour in the soda and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes.

5. Adjust seasonings to your liking, if too salty add a little more soda and simmer for another 5 minutes, otherwise, its done!

6. This is optional: If you prefer thicker sauce, take out the chicken at this point and cook down the sauce until your desired consistency

ENJOY!!

For Lemongrass Pork Adobo recipe, click here.