This is your typical Adobo. One can use just chicken or just pork. This is a combination. One can also add 250 grams of pork liver, sliced into ¼-inch thick by 1 ½-inch length and added towards the last 10 minutes of cooking. Ingredients: 2 pieces chicken thighs – bone in; divide each into two 500 grams pork spare ribs – cut into 2-inch pieces ¾ cup white cane vinegar (can be bought in Asian store) ¼ cup light soy sauce 2 bay leaves 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves 2 teaspoons coarse ground pepper corn 2 tablespoons cooking oil 1 tablespoon crushed garlic salt to taste ¼ cup cooking oil Procedure: In a glass bowl, place chicken and pork. In a measuring cup, mix vinegar and soy sauce. Pour into bowl with pork and chicken and marinate for 1 hour. Drain pork and chicken; set aside marinade. Using a non-stick skillet, place ¼ cup oil and heat over medium-hot fire, till you can feel the oil hot when hand is placed over the pan (180°C); sear chicken first and then pork pieces (divide the pork into two batches); (about 2-3 minutes) and set aside. Using a glass or ceramic or clay cooking casserole, place 2 tablespoons cooking oil and sauté garlic till light golden brown. Add the seared chicken and pork and the marinade, peppercorns, oregano and bay leaves. Simmer the chicken and pork till tender. Serve with steamed rice. Note: Adobo is always nice served the day after it is cooked. It lets the vinegar simmer down it’s tartiness. There is also this debate as to what souring agent to use. You have cane vinegar, palm vinegar, Balsamic, calamansi juice, lemon juice, white vinegar, red vinegar and other vinegars available. I say, go and just do what feels good with...

Although Paella is a Spanish dish, we Filipinos have adopted it a long time ago and is served in our fiesta fare. When having special guests at home, one can serve just paella and salad because Paella has all the meat and seafood needed to make one feel special. Good for 8 to 10 servings as main dish. Ingredients: 2 chicken thighs, boneless, cut each thigh into four 250 grams pork rasher or belly cut into 1-inch by 2-inches length 500 grams prawns – slit at the back and de-veined 100 grams scallops 1 piece calamari or 250 grams squid tubes – sliced into ¼-inch rounds 2 blue swimmer crabs (alimasag) or mud crab (alimango)– remove top shell and air sac; cut crab into 4; save top shell if it has fat 2 pieces Chorizo de Bilbao or 1 piece Spanish Chorizo – cut into ½-inch rounds ½ cup olive oil 1 tablespoon minced garlic ½ cup chopped onions ½ cup tomato paste 3 cups broth (boil water and place 2 fish cubes) or cooking liquid from 1 kilo of mussels cooked in 3 cups water pinch saffron 1 teaspoon Tabasco (hot sauce) or Habanero sauce or ½ teaspoon cayenne powder ¼ cup pimento (red capsicum) – roasted, peeled and sliced julienne 2 cups Jasmine rice – wash and drain ½ teaspoon black pepper salt to taste ¼ cup Mirin (Japanese cooking rice wine) or ¼ cup white wine grated cheddar/Edam cheese –for garnish 1 hard boiled egg sliced into eight for garnish 1 tablespoon green peas – cooked – for garnish Procedure: Place large casserole over medium low heat; place olive oil and sauté garlic, onions and saffron till the onions are translucent. Set aside. In another skillet, place over medium heat and place ¼ cup olive oil. (add olive oil if necessary) Sear the pork spare ribs and remove. Sear the chicken and remove. Sear the prawns and remove. Sear the scallops and remove. Sear the calamari and remove. Go back to main casserole and add the tomato paste and continue sautéing for about 5 minutes. Add the broth and simmer for another 5 minutes. Season to taste. (Tabasco, salt and pepper) Add the Mirin/White wine. Place the pork spare ribs and chicken and simmer the chicken and pork for 15 minutes. Taste and season again. Add the rice and chorizo and mix well. Simmer on top of stove for 10 minutes. Remove from stove fire. In a pre-heated oven (180°C) place the casserole inside oven; cover and bake for 10 minutes. Remove cover and fluff rice; return cover and continue baking for another 15 minutes. Check on rice; fluff; and arrange crab and top shell on...

In whatever country you are in, everyone loves barbeque! And we Pinoys are no exception. But, we’re the only ones that have barbeques named ‘beta max’, ‘Addidas’, and ‘IUD’ to name a few. Here is a sure-fire marinade and procedure that will complete that gathering. The secret to barbeque tasting good to the bone, is marinating it for at the very least 12 hours prior to cooking; it lets the marinade seep in giving it that very savory taste. Ingredients: 1 kilo pork spare ribs – cut per rib strip or cut into 3-inch pieces or 1 kilo chicken legs and thighs or half and half 1/4 cup light soy sauce 1/2 cup white vinegar or ¼ cup calamansi or lemon or lime juice 1/4 cup (50 grams) brown sugar 2 – 4 pieces sili labuyo (bird’s eye chili) – chop finely 1 tablespoon finely crushed garlic 1/4 cup banana ketchup or tomato paste 1/2 cup lemonade (Sprite, 7-Up) 1/2 teaspoon MSG (optional) Procedure: Make a marinade of the soy, vinegar, sugar, chili, garlic, ketchup, lemonade and MSG. The best trick in marinating is to get a plastic bag (Zip-Lock or Glad) and fill it with the pork or chicken pieces. Pour in the marinade and seal bag; try to remove as much of the air. Place in the refrigerator for 24 to 48 hours. Every few hours, turn the bag around so that all the parts get the same flavor. Drain the sauce from the pork or chicken. Steam the pork pieces for 15 minutes. Steam the chicken parts for 20 minutes. Finish cooking by placing them over hot charcoal fire or oven grill till the meats are cooked; anywhere between 10 to 20...

Adobo was originally a Spanish dish, having been introduced four hundred years ago, but has become something Filipinos have since adopted and made their own.  Indeed, there are as many versions of adobo as there are provinces in the Philippines. Practically each household has its own rendition of this traditional dish, each with its own distinct twist to the recipe.  The basic ingredients are garlic and vinegar or another souring agent (tamarind, guava and even watermelon are not unheard of) and soy sauce.  Some versions require coconut milk while others use olive oil.  The viands required to fill the stew are also as varied.  Aside from pork or chicken, one can make adobo with prawns, squid, lamb, goat, crabs, beef, vegetables (bamboo shoots, Chinese cabbage, potato, etc.) or even frog’s legs and balut (traditionally salted duck fetus).  Once prepared, it is an invaluable companion to steaming hot rice and makes for a quick meal over the week, as the older it gets, the richer and more full-bodied its flavor.  Even adobo’s leftovers need not go to waste.  The sauce and oils can be used for frying leftover rice while the meat can be shredded and also fried to a crisp as Ropa Vieja.  Try this recipe if you want something distinctly home-cooked from the Archipelago. Ingredients: 1 kilo pork belly (liempo) and cut into 1-inch width by 2-inch lengths 1/2 cup soy sauce 1/2 cup vinegar 1 cup rum (Tanduay or Añejo, the white variant, you can also use your favorite rum brand) Soak the pork belly pieces in this mixture. 2 tablespoons crushed garlic 2 tablespoons cooking oil Sauté garlic in the cooking oil till light golden brown. Remove garlic from oil and drain on paper towel. 1 cup buco juice (young coconut juice, aka young coconut water) 2 tablespoons cooking oil 1 tablespoon crushed garlic 1 tablespoon freshly crushed black peppercorns 1 piece bay leaf (aka laurel) 1 sprig oregano or 1/2 teaspoon crushed oregano Salt to taste, start with 1/2 teaspoon. Procedure: Marinate the pork belly in the mixture of soy sauce, vinegar and rum for 2 hours. Drain from marinade and save marinade. In a non-corrosive cooking pot, such as glass, enamel, or non-stick, pour in the oil from the sautéed garlic plus 2 tablespoons cooking oil. Avoid using aluminum or stainless steel pans, they will add a metallic flavor to the meat. Place pot over medium-low fire and sauté the 1 tablespoon crushed garlic till very light gold. Put in the marinated pork pieces and sear. Turn the flame to low and pour in the pork marinade, buco juice, peppercorns, bay leaf, and oregano. Simmer the pork, stirring occasionally, till the pork is tender;...