Amazing and easy Pork Adobo

Whenever I tell folks that I'm making adobo, the question I oft get is, Pork? Or chicken? I have to admit, while I've dished up many a chicken adobo feast, I've never made this traditional Filipino dish with good ol' pork. I know, how can I not, considering pork is the uber-meat of Filipino cuisine. The thing is, I just don't do pork. I mean, I'll eat it, happily, and in mass quantities, but I don't really cook it.

Perhaps I'm afraid of the meat drying out, and with a dish like adobo, where the meat is stewed for a very long time in a mixture of soy sauce, vinegar, bay leaves, and black peppercorns, it can easily happen. Okay, so maybe it wouldn't so easily, but if it does, that's a long cooking hour wasted.

But not with this recipe. It comes from my big brother, who came up with the idea after dining at Cendrillon in New York City. The adobo at Cendrillon is quite amazing, with an additional depth of flavor that does not come in the usual simple adobo preparations. My bro guessed the "secret ingredient" and then came up with his own homestyle version here.  Rather than stewing the meat in the sauce, he first browns the meat on the stove then braises the dish in the oven. And the result? Pure perfection. The pork comes out really tender and flavorful, and the sauce so delicious you will be needing a lot of rice to sop it all up. 

Pork Adobo

3 to 4 pound pork shoulder
1 onion, chopped
6 garlic gloves, smashed and diced
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 can coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon chile powder
3 bay leaves
10 peppercorns

Turn oven on to 300 degrees. Dry and season the pork shoulder. Sear each side until brown, about 3 minutes in a large enough pot over medium high heat. Remove pork and saute onions in pot, about 5 minutes, with chile powder, bay leaves, and peppercorns. Add garlic and saute another minute. Add soy sauce, vinegar, and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, making sure you scrape the bottom of the pot for any good fond from the pork.

In a roasting dish, place contents of pot, and add pork shoulder. Cover with foil, and place in oven for 2 to 3 hours. What happens after, simply, is magic. When done, remove the pork, shred it, and place into a serving bowl, with the liquid poured over it.

Serves 6-8.

(P.S. Did you figure out the secret ingredient?)

Shredding the pork before adding the sauce

And as I mentioned in my previous adobo post, there are never any leftovers, but on the rare occasion that there are, save them—and especially any leftover sauce—for adobo-flavored garlic fried rice for breakfast the next day. Yum.

Adobo-flavored Garlic Fried Rice

3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 to 1 head garlic, peeled and diced
4 cups cooked rice, refrigerated overnight
Leftover adobo sauce (any leftover meat, chop finely)

Place rice in a container and separate grains using your hands. In a nonstick pan, heat oil over medium heat and gently brown garlic, about 30 seconds. Add rice and mix thoroughly until rice is evenly coated. Add adobo sauce and meat, and cook until heated through.

Serves 1-4, depending how hungry you are (or how much you're willing to share).

Comments

[Felicia]

I've never tried it with pork either. Looks delicious :)