Chicken Adobo

Adobo is simply “sauce.” In this case simple garlic/onion sauce with chicken.

Six or eight chicken thighs..bone-in, skin-on for flavor
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/3 cup white vinegar, use rice wine vinegar if you have it
1 1/2 cups water
1 medium onion, thinly sliced or diced
5–6 cloves garlic, minced or smashed
1 tsp whole black peppercorns (or 1/2 tsp coarse ground black pepper)
1–2 tbsp brown sugar. I use a tablespoon of agave
2 tbsp avocado oil

Traditionally this goes on top of Jasmine rice, but we went with smashed cauliflower.

Chopped green onions or cilantro for garnish. We went with green onions.

In a big bowl, add the soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, bay leaves and black pepper. Mix and add the chicken and let it marinade in the fridge. An hour would be good, we did 30 minutes.

Pull your chicken, skin side down on some paper towel, SAVE the marinade. Dry up a bit. Into the marinade add some water (1/4 cup-ish) and the sugar/agave.

In a medium heat pan, add oil and sear the chicken skin side down (3 minutes), flip and sear (3 minutes). Pull the chicken and caramelize the onions in the same pan. Pour off about half the oil. Once caramelized, add back the chicken, skin side down.

Pour your reserved marinade mix over the chicken. Bring up to a light simmer. Reduce heat, cover lightly and let simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the lid and flip the chicken. With lid off and let it cook 20 more minutes. Without the lid, the juices reduce. Turn off and let sit for 20 minutes. Pull the chicken, bring up the heat and reduce the sauce for 10 more minutes, or to liking. Add the chicken, skin side up and broil for a minute or two to crisp up the chicken.

Lots of work, but worth it, and great for a team effort on a cool Fall evening. Traditionally coconut milk would be added when reducing the sauce, but we skipped that.