Cooking Lesson #144 Instant Pot Chicken Adobo Manila-Style

Chicken Adobo Manila Style

How you doin? We have done a lot of Food Consulting around the world which requires quite a bit of Research & Development. Over the last several decades we have touched every continent on this planet, and I have visited over 137 countries.
 
In the early 1980s I had an opportunity to visit the Philippines and have dinner with President and Madame Marcos. It was an honor to represent the United States in a foreign country as a good will ambassador for President Reagan. I have been back there several times since.
 
The Philippines have a very long and storied culture having been touched by Chinese, Indian, Spanish and, of course, The United States. It is little wonder that the food of the Philippines is so rich in culture and steeped in wonderous flavors.
 
Chances are, if you’ve had Filipino food at one time or another, you’ve probably had adobo: a dish common in the Philippines that usually features some sort of meat, poultry, seafood, fruit, or vegetable cooked in a mixture of vinegar, bay leaves, onion, garlic, black pepper, and a combination of salt and/or soy sauce. Although simple in nature, these home-cooked braises are always complex and robust in flavor yet remain nuanced and very well balanced.
 
A good adobo requires hours of long slow cooking. In a crock pot or Dutch oven slow braising can take up to 5 to 6 hours to develop the flavors and textures. That lengthy cook-time is cut down to 30 minutes when done in an Instant Pot. You can have a slightly exotic, island-style meal in about 45 minutes from start to the table. Here’s how to do it.
 
Prep time:  10 minutes
Cook time:  10 minutes
Instant Pot time:  30 minutes
 
Ingredients
1-1/3 cup apple cider vinegar (the secret ingredient)
1/3 cup dark or black soy sauce
1/3 cup traditional soy sauce
20 to 24 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper, plus more as needed
2 pounds skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs or legs
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup minced red onion
1/2 pound of Andouille sausage, cut into rounds
1 pound of bacon ends and pieces (half the price of strips)
Salt to taste (soy sauce is already very salty)
Steamed white rice, for serving
 
Instructions

1. In a medium size bowl prepare the chicken marinade by adding the vinegar, soy sauces, garlic, bay leaves, and black pepper. 
2. Pierce the chicken all over with a skewer so that the pieces can absorb the flavors from the marinade.
3. Let the chicken pieces soak in the marinade until you are ready to put them in the oven. It doesn’t take long to pick-up the flavors from the marinade.
4. Next, set your Instant Pot to SAUTÉ; add the oil until hot and shimmering.
5. Sauté the onions and Andouille sausage while you prepare the next step of the chicken.
6. Place the marinaded chicken pieces, skin-side up on a foil-lined sheet pan; salt and pepper to taste.  Scatter the bacon ends and pieces over the top of the chicken thighs and place under a broiler for about 10 minutes being careful not to burn the bacon. 
7. Using tongs, transfer the chicken skin-side up to the Instant Pot over the cooked onions and sausage.
8. CANCEL the SAUTÉ function.
9. Place the lid on the Instant Pot and lock in place.
10. Set the Instant Pot to HIGH PRESSURE for 30 MINUTES.  It will take about 10 minutes to build up pressure before cooking starts.
11. After the cook time is finished QUICK RELEASE the pressure and when safe remove the and discard the bay leaves.
12. Serve the chicken pieces over steamed white rice and ladle the sauce over the chicken and rice.

ChefSecret:  A quick 10-minute broil of the chicken together with the bacon brings a wonderful, smoky grilled flavor to the chicken pieces. Don’t skip this step.

Covid-19 Quip of the Day:  I’ve had a lot of things to think about over the last 6 months.  One is, I think the main reason that Santa Claus is always so jolly is because he knows where all the naughty girls live.
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