CHICKEN ADOBO (COOK'S ILLUSTRATED)

Chicken Adobo (Cook's Illustrated) image

This is a classic Filipino dish that Cook's Illustrated researched and revised. Chicken thighs are braised in soy sauce, vinegar and coconut milk. I served with coconut rice and a salad. The pre-cooking of the thighs releases a lot of fat that is discarded.

Provided by duonyte

Categories Chicken Thigh & Leg

Time 1h40m

Yield 4 serving(s)

Number Of Ingredients 8

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Ingredients

8 bone-in chicken thighs, 5 to 7 oz each
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 (13 1/2 ounce) can coconut milk
3/4 cup cider vinegar
8 garlic cloves, peeled
4 bay leaves
2 teaspoons ground pepper
1 scallion, thinly sliced

Steps:

Toss the chicken with the soy sauce in a large bowl. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour.
Remove chicken from the soy sauce allowing excess to drip back into the bowl. Transfer the chicken, skin-side down, to a 12 inch non-stick skillet; set aside the soy sauce.
Place the skillet over medium-high heat and cook until the chicken skin is browned 7 to 10 minutes.
While the chicken is browning, whisk coconut milk, vinegar, garlic, bay leaves and pepper into the soy sauce. (I chopped the garlic).
Transfer the chicken to a plate and discard the fat in the skillet. Return the chicken to the skillet skin-side down, add the coconut milk mixture, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Flip chicken skin side up and continue to cook, uncovered, until chicken is done, about 15 minutes (175 deg F internal temp).
Transfer chicken to platter and tent loosely with aluminum foil.
Remove bay leaves and skim any fat off surface of sauce. Return skillet to medium-high heat and cook until sauce is thickened, 5 to 7 minutes.
Pour sauce over chicken, sprinkle with scallion and serve.
Note: I made half the recipe and found that the sauce reduced very quickly. I covered the skillet after turning the chicken, but still had very little sauce left - more fat. I will try stirring in some cream to make more sauce, but did not do so this time - the chicken was very moist and flavorful. In any event, if you do make just half the recipe, keep your eye on it!