Baked Chicken Adobo

Filipino adobo is a simple blend of tangy vinegar, salty soy sauce and a punch of garlic, with a touch of S&P, a bay leaf and a bit of waiting time. That’s all it takes to make this easy pantry ready meal that always gets great reviews. When I say I’m making adobo, my family always gets excited which I find interesting, considering how basic it is.

Tonight I decided to use whole thighs with the skin-on and knew that if I cooked them in a pot the skin would come out rubbery.  So I opted for the oven in hopes of getting the skin to be an edible addition that complimented the meat.

The oven method worked out well rendering the fat from the skin leaving it slightly crispy and fully flavored by the marinade.    

After removing the chicken from the casserole dish I was left with a dish full of fat laden flavor that needed to be eaten.  So I diced up a couple of potatoes and carrots and tossed them in the casserole.  I put them back in the oven to soak up all that wonderful flavor that was left in the pan.  The end results were delicious.  My husband was quite happy as to how this dinner turned out.

In hindsight I would place the potatoes and carrots under the chicken and cook the whole meal at the same time.  But this time around, the potatoes and carrots were an afterthought.

You can use boneless, skinless chicken and cook it up in a pot on the stove, which is how I usually do it.  Just make sure you use thighs, breast meat gets dry and tough in this dish. 

When cooking with whole bone-in thighs I like to partially slice the meat away from the bone so the marinade can penetrate as well as allowing the chicken to cook evenly. 

CHICKEN ADOBO

5          pounds            chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on

½         cup                  white vinegar

¼         cup                  soy sauce, Kikkoman

3          cloves              garlic, minced

¼         tsp.                  kosher salt

¼         tsp.                  coarse black pepper

1          whole               bay leaf

*I use Kikkoman soy sauce which is a lot stronger than Aloha.  If you use Aloha shoyu use equal parts of shoyu to vinegar.

Place the chicken in a baking pan skin side down.

Mix all the ingredients together and marinate the chicken for at least an hour or if time allows, overnight.

Turn the chicken to skin side up and place in a 400 degree oven for 50 minutes.

If you choose to add potatoes and carrots place them under the chicken before baking.