Adobo

As part of my Adobo series, I asked my wife to prepared this all time favorite dish of mine for our vacation before school days at Canyon Cove .  What does it take to have a very special adobo that is different from what you can buy in the carinderias? Aside from the technique of blending the right spices, there is still one ingredient that will bring adobo to its perfection. That is time. Time is the element that most of the adobo makers forgot. The longer the adobo is soaked, the taster it becomes.  That is the reason why I ask my wife to prepare adobo a day before we eat it.  During the time you are cooking it, that is still the same ingredient that you have to master, the time for the water to evaporate and for the sauce to blend with the meat.  This is the technique great adobo makers have perfected.  This technique has separted the Ams from the Pros in Adobo cooking.

After you have your adobo cooked, there is still this variety that you might want to try. Dry the adobo with its sauce. It will become flakes that is perfect to a hot steam rice with vinegar and chili as the condiments. 

There is still another way that you might want to explore, stir fry the adobo in tomatoes and onions. Its another variety that was taught to me by my cousin from Marikina which he calls, “Adobo made in Heaven”.

There are diffent varieties that you can do to your adobo that makes it more exciting to eat. The bottomline, adobo padin at rapsa to!!!

Adobong Bagaybay

One of  my favorite place to go for food tripping is at Dampa.  I like it there because it reminds me of my food adventures at Tacloban and Surigao.  The happiness in eating is the same, the difference is the freshness and the price. Hehe.  When I go for pick and cook, I always order this exotic part of tuna which is called Bagaybay.  In Davao, we have it grilled.  It is very much delicious and tasty.  The taste is very flavorsome that you don’t need condiments to savor its taste.  Bagaybay by the way is Fish testes.  Usually, you can buy it with bihod (fish eggs).  There is this restaurant that can cook it aside from the usual grill.  They cooked it in spicy adobo style.  The taste is simply terrific!!! A must try fro everyone.

Where to Find

Adobong Bagaybay was cooked by Aling Cadiang.  You may find her shop at the Dampa of Farmers Market, Cubao QC.   You can have your meal at the common area or you may want to have it at a private dinning place.  This goes very well with other seafood dishes.  There are many adobos that are delicious but this for sure will give you a different experience and flavor that will make you eat again and again. 

Adobong Pusit by Mannang

For adobong pusit, the darker the ink, the better!!!  This one adobong pusit that I may say, wow!!!  It is the adobong pusit by Mannang.  I rarely order this dish and it was only an accident that I did.  It was that accidental choice that revealed this wonderful dish that I will recommend you to have.   Rapsa to men!!!  The Mannang’s adobong pusit has the right balance of flavor from the saltiness, to spices. It has the right flavor that made it very delicious.  It was mixed with pork and I guess that also enhanced the taste.  If you are not into pork, you make ask for an all squid dish. 

  

Where to find

The adobong Pusit of Mannang may be found at Building A of Mega Mall lower level.  It is beside Mann Hann or near the bowling place.  To be exact, under Powerbooks.   The service of the restaurant is also great aside from their great food.  When you visit Mannang, just remember that their Adobong Pusit is something to look forward to.  Ang itim at ang sarap!!!   

Adobong Pata

For all of the adobo lovers, here is one treat that you cannot resist.  Adobong Pata.  It is the same adobo that we have except that it is made of pork hind.  The cooking process will take a little longer because we have to make sure that the meat and skin are very soft and tender.  What will be the indicator?  Check the meat against the bone.  The meat must be so soft that it can easily separate from bone.  The slow cooking makes this very delicious and yummy. 

Adobong pata came out as a recipe in our home after we experimented with pork hind.  This came out to be a very good and taste way of eating adobo.  Here is another thing, this taste better if you are to eat it the following day.  Re-heating it makes is more delicious.  It is very yummy with itlog maalat(salted eggs), salt and tomatoes.  But for this one, we ate it with curry rice and for our condiments, vinegar and chilis.  Truly a very good alternative to your usual adobo meal.

ADOBO

As a Filipino, it is a shame if you don’t know ADOBO. I am engaged to this ever since I learned to eat.  This dish is also prepared in Spanish colonized countries like us.  In the Philippines it is made of pork chicken or the combination of both. The cooking process is slow and is  cooked in soy, vinegar and  crushed garlic, some used bay leaves or anis seeds.  Some cook it with sauce some dries the whole stew in a slow and low fire process.  This is best with tomato and salt. Better if you have “itlog na maalat” ( salted eggs).   You may enjoy this with vinegar and chili, tomatoes with onions and salt, or best as it is.  ADOBO is one comfort food that you will find everywhere in the country.  There are different styles of cooking from the learned chef to the experimental and to the techniques passed from generations to generations.  For me, I prefer the version that is time and taste tested. 

When we make ADOBO, it takes us 3 hours or more to complete it. It is because we make sure that we cook iit close to perfection.   It is so soft that you can eat the pork fat as if it taste like “balut”.  Rapsa talaga to bro and sis!!!  My brother cook it toasted and my cousin has a version that is “ADOBO made in Heaven” ( I’ll make a separate blog for this because I can attest that his version is truly heaven sent).  To the ADOBO lovers let us give a toast to this wonderful food that is truly PINOY. Mabuhay ang matatakaw sa ADOBO gaya ko!!!