Adobo, ultimate Filipino comfort food. | Photo courtesy of Ben Kiely.

Dubbed as the “unofficial official” national dish of the Philippines, adobo is no doubt a staple on every Filipino family table.

Widely popular for its simple basic ingredients and preparation, recipes for this dish vary from region to region.

My Lola (grandmother), who was known far and wide for her wonderful cooking back home, used to make the best adobo.

She greatly influenced me early on in life to not just enjoy eating food, but more so, to actually enjoy the whole process – right from shopping for the best, right ingredients to preparing them, to cooking and tasting the dish… and finally to sitting down around the dining table to share the meal with family and friends.

This is inspired by my Lola’s adobo, but with my own spin on it. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 kg pork belly

• 1 kg chicken breast (or parts as preferred – legs, thighs, wings are popular choices)

• 1 cup of white vinegar

• 1/2 cup of soy sauce

• 10 cloves of garlic, minced

• 1 tbsp. of black peppercorns

• 3 bay leaves

• 4 tsp. of white sugar

Method

1. In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients, except the meat. Marinate the pork belly in this mixture for at least two hours. Set aside at room temperature.

2. Roast the pork belly at 400 degrees on the middle rack for an hour, or until desired crispiness is achieved.

3. Cut the chicken breast into cubes.

4. When the pork is done, let it rest. Then cut into desired size.

5. Meanwhile, saute the chicken with the pork drippings and, when it browns, slowly add the marinade. Let it simmer and when the sauce has reduced,

Voila! Now, you can consider yourself an honorary Filipino.

Best served with hot coconut white rice (for show, on top of banana leaves will do).

Will yield enough to have a mini-fiesta.