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Filipino Chicken Adobo with Coconut Broth
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Thousands of islands make up the Philippines. And there probably are as many recipes for chicken adobo, the classic Filipino dish that turns handful of ingredients—loads of garlic, black pepper and vinegar—into a bright and tangy meal. We tailored our recipe for weeknight ease, using a hefty dose of rice vinegar blended with soy sauce and aromatics to create a potent marinade for bone-in thighs. For heat we used serrano chilies. Look for chicken thighs that are uniform in size; if some are smaller than others, begin to check them early and remove them as they come up to temperature
4
Servings
Tip
Don’t use regular soy sauce. As the chicken braises, the cooking liquid reduces, concentrating the flavor—and salt. Low-sodium soy sauce produced a broth that was well-seasoned.
1 hour and 45 minutes
30 minutes active
1½ cups unseasoned rice vinegar
3/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
6 garlic cloves, smashed
3 serrano chilies, halved lengthwise
4 bay leaves
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (3 to 3½ pounds)
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Steamed white rice, to serve
Ingredients
-
1½
cups unseasoned rice vinegar
-
¾
cup low-sodium soy sauce
-
6
garlic cloves, smashed
-
3
serrano chilies, halved lengthwise
-
4
bay leaves
-
1
teaspoon black peppercorns
-
8
bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (3 to 3½ pounds)
-
1
cup unsweetened coconut milk
-
⅓
cup chopped fresh cilantro
-
Steamed white rice, to serve
Directions
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01In a large Dutch oven, combine the vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, chilies, bay leaves and peppercorns. Add the chicken thighs, submerging them. Cover and refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes.
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02Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high. Reduce to medium-low and cook, turning the thighs occasionally, until the chicken registers 170ºF, 25 to 30 minutes, adjusting the heat as necessary to maintain a medium simmer. Heat the broiler with an oven rack 6 inches from the element. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Remove the chicken thighs from the pot and arrange skin side up on the baking sheet. Pat dry with paper towels and set aside.
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03Strain the cooking liquid, discarding the solids, then skim off the fat. Return 1 cup of the defatted liquid to the pot, stir in the coconut milk and bring to a simmer over medium. Take the pan off the heat, stir in the cilantro, then cover and set aside.
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04Broil the chicken until the skin is deeply browned and blackened in spots, 3 to 8 minutes. Serve in shallow bowls with steamed white rice, ladling the broth over the rice.
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Reviews
July 29, 2022
Great Quick Tuesday Night Meal
My husband doesn't like coconut so I substituted the coconut milk with regular heavy cream and it was AMAZINGLY good! This recipe is on our regular weeknight rotation.
January 19, 2023
Great!
Amazing recipe! Love the addition of the coconut milk. My ONLY suggestion would be to reduce the sauce a bit. I loved a clingier sauce for this.
My first time I tried this recipe it was a struggle. It took twice as long to reach the desired temp and by then the liquid was almost gone. I rescued by adding the coconut milk, then straining out the bits, although some skin was lost in the pan. My second try was totally successful. This time I covered the dutch oven, cooked for 15 minutes then checked for temp, recovered and simmered for another 10 minutes. I re-watched the television episode and re-read the recipe looking for covered/uncovered instructions and didn't see this mentioned. It looked like it was uncovered on the TV episode, but I'll always make this great tasting dish again with the lid on.
Tried this tonight but used boneless skinless thighs (what I had on hand). I covered the pan per the suggestion given in another comment, but found but found that the liquid didn’t quite reduce enough, resulting in a somewhat watery, not very flavorful sauce. I broiled the thighs as well which probably wasn’t necessary (since no delicious skin to crisp up) but did add some nice crispy bits. Next time I will use bone in, skin on thighs per the recipe and cook without the lid to further concentrate the sauce and flavor.
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Your First Issue
Super flavorful and easy to pull together. The marinating for 30-60 minutes might rule this out as reasonable weeknight option but if you're cooking for a group and don't want to spend much time stressing in the kitchen then this is a really good option.