11.112
26 (Sun) April 2020
Chicken & Broccoli Adobo
3.0
by me
at home
-Dasmariñas Village, Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines-
with the Family
Whereas recipes for adobo are infinite in variety, everybody loves most the one that they grew up with. The adobo that I grew up with, so to speak, is the one served in the cafeteria at WHO WPRO. Made with scraps of pork and/or chicken, leftover odds and ends from other applications – never prime cuts as would seem to befit what is arguably the national dish of the Philippines (or one of them). Regardless of meat quality, the sauce delivers an ideal balance of salty and sour, with a delicate kick of garlic and black pepper and chili, so delicious over a plate of steamed rice – even better: garlic fried rice – and a fried egg, easy over. I can never resist. Over the past 6 years, at least once a week, always during breakfast, I have come to embrace this adobo as my favorite Filipino dish, one of my favorite overall dishes of all time.
I can’t believe that I’ve never taken a photo of it, even during the week last year when GMTD highlighted WHO WPRO’s cafeteria food (see most recently 10.153 Beef Caldereta + Steamed Vegetables + Steamed Rice). I’m wondering if I’ll get a chance before I leave.
Finally, I decided to stop dithering with random recipes in cookbooks (see most recently 11.086 Chicken Adobo) and instead ask the head chef at the WHO WPRO cafeteria for his. (I was in the office on Thursday.) He didn’t have a set recipe, just general guidelines (“a pinch of sugar”) – I would think that a kitchen serving hundreds of people would be more systematic. Anyway, it worked out, or pretty close to it. A few more tries, a few more tweaks, and I’ll post my adapted recipe.