Chicken adobo

My family moved to Hong Kong from Scotland in 1987, three days before my fourth birthday and not long afterwards, I tried this dish for the first time. From that moment on, I constantly begged my Mum to let me have it - but she didn’t know how to make it. Years later, I befriended another Hong Kong expat in New Zealand whose Mum taught me how to make it. It’s wonderfully simple and packed with flavour.

Chicken adobo. Credit: Jiwon Kim

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  35 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

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Ingredients

• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ cup (125 ml) gluten-free soy sauce
• 8 chicken drumsticks
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 60 ml rice wine vinegar
• 60 ml malt vinegar
• 250 ml water
• 1 tsp whole black peppercorns
• 2 dried bay leaves
• Asian greens of choice, to serve
• Steamed white rice, to serve

Instructions

1. In a bowl, combine garlic and soy sauce and toss the chicken to coat. For a deeper flavour, refrigerate and leave to marinate for up to 24 hours.

2. Remove the chicken from soy mixture and reserve the marinating liquid. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over high heat and sear the chicken for 1 - 2 minutes.

3. Reduce the heat and add the soy marinating liquid, water, peppercorns and bay leaves. Cover and cook for 30-35 minutes, or until the chicken is tender and the meat is falling off the bone.

4. Just before serving, fill a medium saucepan of water to the boil, then blanch the Asian greens of your choice.

5. Divide the chicken between bowls and spoon over the braising liquid. Serve with steamed white rice and Asian greens on the side.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

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Heart-Warming

Watch the full episode here

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Watch the full episode here

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