Recipe for "chicken-adobo"

NAME

     CHICKEN-ADOBO - Filipino chicken with garlic
     Adobo is the national dish of the  Philippines.  Most  warm-
     weather  countries  have  through  the  centuries  developed
     recipes that preserve food while flavoring it. This dish  is
     different than many because of its strong component of vine-
     gar. It is at once sour, salty, and drenched in garlic.

INGREDIENTS (Serves 4)

     1 kg      chicken pieces, cut up or whole
     1         head of garlic, coarsely chopped (yes,  an  entire
               head!)
     50 ml     soy sauce (or more to taste)
     5 ml      ground black pepper
     500 ml    water
     250 ml    vinegar (rice vinegar or white wine  vinegar  work
               best)
     2         bay leaves
     25 ml     cooking oil

PROCEDURE

          (1)  Put vinegar, bay leaves, pepper,  soy  sauce,  and
               water  in a saucepan.  Cover and cook slowly about
               15 minutes.
          (2)  Meanwhile,  heat  the  cooking  oil  in  a  large,
               heavy-bottomed frying pan.  Peel the garlic, break
               the  cloves  into  chunks,  and  brown  them  over
               medium-low heat (about 5 minutes).
          (3)  Add the chicken to the frypan and  brown  it  over
               medium-high heat (about 5 minutes).
          (4)  Add the broth to the  frypan  and  simmer,  partly
               covered,  until  the  chicken  is  done  (about 30
               minutes). Do not let it come to a boil.
          (5)  Remove the bay leaves and serve  over  rice.  This
               dish  is  too  strongly  flavored  to go well with
               wine; try serving it with beer.

NOTES

     You can substitute pork for the chicken, or mix the two.  In
     the  Philippines  it  is the custom to marinate the meat for
     two days rather before simmering; with the  top-grade  meats
     that  are  universally available in our grocery stores, that
     is not necessary (though it does deepen and enrich the  fla-
     vor).   To  marinate  the chicken, mix in the broth and 3 of
     the garlic cloves after step 1, then put the  chicken  in  a
     glass dish and pour the marinade over it.

RATING

     Difficulty: easy.  Time:  1  hour.   Precision:  approximate
     measurement OK.

CONTRIBUTOR

     Bob Kunz
     {ihnp4!hplabs!hp-pcd, uw-beaver!fluke}!hplsla!kunz
     Hewlett-Packard, Lake Stevens Instrument Division
     Everett, Washington