Chicken Adobo with Potatoes

Method

How it goes together

1. 01

   Step 1

   Season the chicken – Pat the chicken dry with paper towel and season all over with the salt and pepper.

   A dry surface is what lets the skin colour and crisp rather than steam in its own moisture, and salt on the skin draws out a little more water before it hits the pan.

2. 02

   Step 2

   Brown the chicken – Heat the oil in a large heavy-based frying pan or shallow casserole dish with a lid over medium–high heat. Place the chicken skin-side down and cook for 7–8 minutes, or until the skin is deeply golden and a lot of the fat has rendered. Turn and cook for a further 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

   The long stint skin-side down does two jobs: it builds the browned fond that flavours the whole braise, and it melts out the fat so the sauce is rich rather than greasy.

3. 03

   Step 3

   Cook the onion – Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onion and cook for 4–5 minutes until softened and beginning to caramelise around the edges. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds.

   Softening the onion in the chicken fat sweetens the base and the caramelised edges add colour to the finished sauce. Garlic goes in last because it burns and turns bitter fast.

4. 04

   Step 4

   Build the sauce – Pour in the soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, dark soy sauce (if using), peppercorns, bay leaves and water, scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze and lift any caramelised bits. Bring to a gentle simmer.

   Scraping the pan dissolves the browned chicken residue into the liquid, which is where most of the adobo's depth comes from. Bringing it only to a gentle simmer keeps the vinegar's harsh edge cooking off without boiling the sauce down early.

5. 05

   Step 5

   Braise – Return the chicken to the pan, skin-side up. Arrange the potatoes around the chicken. The liquid should sit around the chicken rather than completely covering it. Bring back to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes, turning the chicken skin-side down halfway through cooking.

   Liquid sitting around rather than over the chicken keeps the skin out of the sauce, while the covered low simmer cooks the meat to the point it pulls from the bone. Turning halfway lets both sides take on the sauce.

6. 06

   Step 6

   Reduce the sauce – Remove the lid and turn the chicken skin-side up once more. Simmer, uncovered, for 15–20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender and the sauce has reduced to a rich, glossy consistency that coats the chicken and potatoes. If the sauce reduces too quickly before the potatoes are tender, stir through 60 ml (¼ cup) of water at a time (see note 4). Add the boiled eggs during the final 5 minutes so they warm through and absorb some of the sauce.

   The uncovered stage concentrates the soy, vinegar and sugar into a glaze thick enough to cling, which is what makes it worth spooning over rice. Adding water in small amounts buys time for the potatoes without watering down the flavour. The eggs go in late so they only warm and take on colour, not t

7. 07

   Step 7

   Serve – Scatter the spring onion over and serve with steamed jasmine rice, spooning plenty of the sauce over everything.