adobo

[Leanne]

The Chipolte thread brought up a question I've had for a while. This may be a silly question - but what is adobo? I gateher it's a spice with a mexican flare(?). Do you buy it just like other spices?

[Vanessa]

Hi
Adobo is a blend of ingredients crushed and mixed in a mortar and pestle and rubbed into meats & poultry to impart a unique seasoning.
Adobo
For seasoning a pound of meat (please adjust to individual taste)
Crush a garlic clove, 1/4 tsp dried oregano, 1 peppercorn, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp olive oil 1/2 tsp vinegar or lime juice
Crush the salt with garlic to make a paste add the rest of ing. Rub into meat and set in refrigerator several hrs or overnight
Note: for pork you can add some cumin powder and for poultry some poultry sesoning.

If you have access to Goya products they sell Adobo en polvo (powder adobo) it comes with cumin, with bitter orange, with or without pepper. Basically just sprinkle on meats, chops, eggs, soups etc You can make it a marinade by adding vinegar, oil to the Goya adobo. Goya has a website www.goya.com (http://www.goya.com)

[Jen]

My husband's family is from the Philippines, so I've had their version of adobo many times. I've never had one with coconut milk though - my understanding is that it just refers to the marinade of soy, peppercorns, bay leaf and a few other things...very simple but also very delicious! Usually it's made with pork or chicken. (I must admit it's one of the only Filipino dishes I actually like!)

Jen

[Ohioan]

Philippines adobo used to be one of my favorites. Mostly it's made with pork, but sometimes with chicken. You stew the meat in a combination of soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, black or white pepper, and (sometimes) onion and/or tamarind, until it's almost falling apart. Then you fry or saute the cooked meat separately (usually in lard), and add the cooked-down sauce in which you originally cooked the meat. There are many variations, including not doing the extra frying after the stewing, but I believe the soy, garlic, and vinegar are constants.

Phoebe

[Gail]

Just for the record, adobo also happens to be the name of the national dish of the Philippines-- which I believe is a chicken or pork dish made with coconut milk.