chicken adobo

to all the Filipnos out there that are reading this, please refrain from judging a Chinese girl who felt like making adobo. actually, i take that back, i'm specifically talking about Ruby and Ron. see, i came into work today and told them that i had made adobo. immediately they ask "what kind" and i tell them "chicken. it's pretty good, i think." with the quickest retort they say that it should be pork. and that i can't say it's good without having a Filipino person try it. i then told them to "eff off, jerks!" except i went with the explicit version of that. then i told them that i know what good food is, as you can clearly see considering my blog has been taken over with about 85% food posts. unimpressed, they asked if they could smell it to make sure i wasn't a liar about it being pretty good. confident that i'd made a damn good adobo (it really isn't very hard anyway), i let them smell it and what was their response? "oh damn it smells like my mom's!" yeah that's right, assholes! a Chinese girl can make adobo, alright? 

so few ingredients involved. easy cooking, that's right up my alley!

it doesn't look like a lot of liquid but once the chicken begins to release juices it becomes quite a bit.

the end result. effing yum!!!

please don't mind that crappy noodle thing you see. that was poor judgement on my part thinking that i could potentially save some calories by using shirataki noodles (a very low calorie "noodle") in place of rice to soak up all of that adobo goodness. i was wrong and those noodles suck. but damn, do i love me some adobo!!

chicken adobo

ingredients:

-12 chicken drumsticks

-oil

-1 c soy sauce

-1 c white vinegar

-1 head of garlic, chopped

-2 tsp black peppercorns

-1/2 tsp ground black pepper

-3 bay leaves

directions:

1. heat oil in pot on medium heat

2. add garlic and heat until just browning

3. add chicken to pan and saute until about half way cooked through

4. add soy sauce, vinegar, peppercorns, pepper and bay leaves to pot

5. distribute chicken so that coating of chicken is even

6. simmer on low for approx. 25-30 mins or until chicken is cooked through. chicken should be falling off the bone.

7. serve with rice!

honey balsamic chicken

i don't have too much to say about this except that sometimes a nice sticky sweet chicken sounds good.

honey balsamic chicken drumsticks


ingredients:


- 1/2 c balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 c honey
- 1/2 c light brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 c soy sauce
- 3 garlic cloves, mniced
- 12 chicken drumsticks
- 2 tbs sesame seeds
- 1/4 c parsley, chopped

directions:


1. in a bowl combine balsamic vinegar, sugar, honey, soy sauce and garlic and mix until honey is well blended
2. toss chicken drumsticks and marinade into a big ziplock bag
3. place in fridge to marinate for at least two hours (the longer the better)
4. preheat oven to 450 degrees F
5. place chicken drumsticks on a cooling rack on top of a baking sheet
6. bake until skin is caramelized (approx 30 mins)
7. while the chicken is baking, pour leftover marinade into a small saucepan
8. bring marinade to a boil then reduce heat to low to simmer until thick (approx 15 mins)
9. brush the cooked marinade onto the chicken and return to oven for 10 more mins
10. when fully cooked, sprinkle with sesame seeds and parsley