Adobo is a Filipino dish of which every Filipino family has a recipe. The basic recipe calls for cooking meat or vegetable in soy, vinegar, garlic, and pepper. The way I cook my adobo is a cross between how my Papa cooked it and how my father-in-law prepared his.
I love adobo for its versatility. Leftovers are used for adobo rice, omelet, or as filling in bread dough. My kids simply love the salty-sour-aioli taste. They eat adobo either with sauce, or dry and crispy.
In Manila where I grew up, we always ate adobo with boiled monggo (mung beans). My children are not huge monggo fans, so I serve radish, their favorite, as a side dish instead. They have no problem consuming a whole platter of brown rice with this combination.
Now the new tradition in my household is crispy adobo with labanos (radish) doused with vinegar and a pinch of salt. Tomatoes, chopped cilantro, and salted egg is also an alternative side dish.
Adobo
4 pcs of chicken breast
1 cup cane vinegar
1/2 cup light soy
1/4 cup water
3 heads garlic crushed
2 bay leaves
ground pepper
oil and 2 cloves of garlic for sauteing
Combine all ingredients in a pot. Simmer until the chicken breast is fully cooked, about 20 minutes. Remove the chicken breast and save the adobo sauce. Using 2 forks, flake the meat. In a different pan, put oil and brown chopped garlic with chicken flakes. Put the pan in a broiler oven to make the meat dry and crispy. Serve the the adobo dry with sauce on the side.
Kwentong Nanay 