filipino classic - chicken adobo

[babyjoy726]

couldn't help myself, but this is an awesome classic filipino dish and must be shared!  

chicken (or any type of protein you would like to use - pork, beef, tofu)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
3 bay leaves
1/4 tsp peppercorns (or to taste)
3 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp vinegar
vegetable oil

in pot, saute garlic and onion in oil until onion is transparent.  add chicken and cook for 10 minutes.  add other ingredients and let chicken simmer until fully cooked.  serve with rice.

variation - replace vinegar with 3 lemon juice.  either way is YUMMY!

feel free to change the proportions to your taste.  i have never seen the same adobo recipe used EVER, so be creative!  also, if you have time to make this the night before, you can marinate it in the sauce before cooking.  more marination time = juicier and tastier meal!  

[Goddess]

YUM! I'll have to try it

[ricecake]

my husband and I were just talking about this, since I rave about my mom's adobo, but have only made it once.

when i was little, i used to eye the whole peppercorns very, very suspiciously.  

[babyjoy726]

salamat, ricecake!!!  i totally miss my mom's cooking... do you need any more recipes?  i'll post her pancit recipe next!  

[ricecake]

mmm...pancit....  

do you know offhand if lumpia is supposed to be fried?  there are two "theories" going around--one is that it is not fried and is similar to a Vietnamese spring/summer roll.  the other is that it is fried and is more like the traditional eggroll.

and is that your little one as your avatar? so cute!! I have a 2.5 year old myself (he's tisoy )

[yousmellspecial]

hi fellow filipinas....

i think lumpia can go either way. i think the real way is unfried.. mmm those are my favorite! then you can make that awesome sauce to put on top. my mom used to make the lumpia wrappers from scratch and i would devour them like the starving little child i am.

[Bu-chi]

My understanding is that there are two types of lumpia, distinguished by the wrapper: the thin (kinda see-through) for the type similar to Vietnamese spring roll that's not for frying, and the thicker one that is meant for frying (usually includes meat). A frying tip from my mom who makes mouth-watering lumpia for me: fry the lumpias frozen so that it's crispier.

[whitemonkey]

Ah, yes, lumpia, I know it well. The freezer at our house is full of foil packages of lumpia that my mother-in-law (thanks Chita!) gave us. Very delicious, and yes, I would agree that frying the lumpias straight out of the freezer makes them a bit crispier. I also like the banana lumpias, more of a dessert treat. Does anyone have any good flan recipes?

[babyjoy726]

woooooo filipinas!!!!!!!!!!!    i'm glad i posted my adobo recipe!

ok, for the lumpia,  i know my mom makes three kinds:
1) regular lumpia - egg rollish and fried
2) lumpia shanghai - those little meat-filled fried ones that you serve with duck sauce
3) lumpia sariwa - the fresh lumpia, made with those crepe-like things and served wtih peanut sauce

mmmm.... i'm going home tonight, so i'm going to snag some lumpia shanghai from my mom's freezer (does everyone do this?  lol)

o, and i'll also snag my mom's flan recipe for you whitemonkey!

the only problem i have with my mom's recipes is that it usually cooks for a family of 10 and i only cook for my little lonesome...  

(oh, ricecake, my avatar is actually me when i was a baby... i always found it curious that they insisted on placing me in that position.  post pictures of your son!  i'm sure guwapo guwapo!)