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Mains · Filipino

Chicken Adobo with Crisp Skin

Thighs braised in vinegar, soy and garlic, then crisped under the grill while the sauce reduces to a glaze.

Prep
10 min
Cook
50 min
Total
1 hr
Serves
4

Added .

Illustration of chicken adobo

Why this version

  • Letting the vinegar bubble for a minute before stirring softens its edge without losing the tang.
  • Braising skin-side up, with the skin above the liquid, and finishing under the grill gives crisp skin and tender meat.
  • Reducing the sauce on its own while the chicken crisps makes it glossy rather than thin.

Ingredients

Servings
4 servings
Units
  • 1.2 kg bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, about 8
  • 1 tbsp neutral oil
  • 10 garlic cloves, lightly smashed
  • 120 ml cane or rice vinegar
  • 80 ml soy sauce
  • 250 ml water
  • 1½ tsp black peppercorns, lightly crushed
  • 4 dried bay leaves
  • 1 tbsp light brown sugar
  • 2 spring onions, sliced
  • steamed jasmine rice, to serve

Method

  1. Pat the chicken dry. Heat the oil in a wide, heavy pan over medium-high heat and brown the chicken skin-side down, in batches, for 6–8 minutes until deep golden. Turn and brown the other side for 2 minutes, then move to a plate. Pour off all but 1 tbsp of the fat.

  2. Lower the heat to medium, add the garlic and cook for 1–2 minutes, until fragrant and lightly golden.

  3. Pour in the vinegar and let it bubble for 1 minute without stirring. Add the soy sauce, water, peppercorns, bay leaves and sugar.

  4. Return the chicken to the pan skin-side up, so the skin sits above the liquid. Simmer gently, uncovered, for 30–35 minutes, until the meat is tender and reads 80°C next to the bone.

  5. Heat the grill to high. Move the chicken to a lined tray, skin up, and grill for 4–6 minutes until crisp and blistered.

  6. Meanwhile, boil the sauce hard for 5–8 minutes until it has reduced by about half and looks slightly syrupy. Fish out the bay leaves. Spoon the sauce around the chicken, not over the skin, scatter with spring onion and serve with rice.

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What we tested

  • Marinating overnight in the vinegar and soy: no deeper flavour, and the meat turned a little mealy.
  • Fully submerged braise without the grill finish: tender, but the skin went soft and pale.
  • White wine vinegar instead of cane vinegar: harsher. Rice vinegar is the closest easy substitute.

Keeping

Adobo is better on day two. Keep the chicken and sauce together for up to 4 days; re-crisp the skin under the grill.

Swaps and notes

Coconut milk version: after reducing, stir 120 ml coconut milk into the sauce and simmer for 2 minutes.

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