Slow Cooker Filipino Chicken Adobo
The Philippines' national dish is five pantry ingredients, one pot, and no measuring cup of technique — and it may be the cheapest genuinely great dinner you can make.
Equipment
- Slow cooker 6-quart or larger
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 pounds bone-in skin-on chicken thighs and drumsticks
- 3/4 cup cane vinegar or white distilled vinegar
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup water
- 12 cloves garlic smashed
- 5 dried bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns lightly crushed
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water, optional
- 3 green onions sliced
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, brown the chicken skin-side down for 4-5 minutes until golden. Transfer to the slow cooker.
- Pour off all but about a tablespoon of the fat. Add the smashed garlic to the skillet and cook for 30-45 seconds until fragrant, then scrape it over the chicken.
- Add the vinegar, soy sauce, water, bay leaves, crushed peppercorns, and brown sugar to the slow cooker. Do not stir - adobo is traditionally left alone until the vinegar has cooked off its raw edge.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 5 hours, or HIGH for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, until the chicken is tender and pulling from the bone.
- Transfer the chicken pieces to a foil-lined sheet pan, skin-side up.
- Skim the fat from the sauce. Simmer it in a saucepan for 8-10 minutes to thicken, or stir the cornstarch slurry into the slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 15 minutes.
- Brush the chicken with a few spoonfuls of sauce and broil 6 inches from the element for 4-6 minutes, until the skin blisters and browns. Watch closely - the sugar can burn quickly.
- Serve over rice with plenty of sauce spooned over, topped with green onions, alongside something crunchy and cool.
Notes
Buy a family pack of bone-in thighs and drumsticks rather than boneless breast. It is typically a third of the price per pound, and the bones and skin give the sauce its richness.
Plain white distilled vinegar is the budget choice and works completely. Cane or rice vinegar is milder.
Adobo improves after a night in the fridge - the vinegar mellows and the sauce sets.
For a richer variation common in the southern Philippines, stir 1/2 cup coconut milk into the sauce during the last 30 minutes.