{recipe} Pork Adobo

Adobo is one of my favorite easy recipes and one of the tastiest ways to enjoy pork. In this case, Adobo refers to a common Filipino dish that combines just 4 ingredients: soy sauce, vinegar, black pepper, and garlic, to create a spicy, tangy sauce. A lot of Adobo recipes are saucy to the point of being more like a stew, but I like this one because it produces a rich, reduced, almost caramelized coating over the pork.

What’s surprising about this combination is that once everything is cooked together it doesn’t taste how you would expect it to taste. To wit: the pepper is spicier than you expect, the garlic is mellower, the soy sauce isn’t as salty, and the vinegar isn’t as pungent. It all marries together in a sauce that is greater, and more complex, than the sum of its parts.

There are probably thousands of Adobo recipes out there, and as you may have guessed I’m totally not Filipino so I make no claims to authenticity. I will, however, make claims to deliciousness! I like to serve it over rice to neutralize the spice of the sauce.

Pork Adobo
serves 4.

Ingredients:

  • 2 lb. boneless pork roast
  • 1 cup soy sauce
  • 2 cups white wine vinegar
  • 2-3 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 Tblsp vegetable oil
  • 12-15 cloves garlic, sliced as thinly as possible

Method:

  • Trim the major fat off the pork roast and cut into 1/2 inch chunks.
  • Put pork, soy sauce, vinegar, and pepper in a saucepan and bring to a boil, ensuring all pork is submerged in liquid. Lower heat to medium and boil 30-45 minutes.
  • Heat oil in saute pan over medium high heat. Use a slotted spoon to transfer pork pieces to oil. Saute 10 minutes, stirring or flipping often, to brown on all sides.
  • Add garlic to pan and cook 30 seconds, stirring. Add adobo sauce and cook about 10 more minutes, until sauce thickens.
  • Serve over rice.

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1 Response

  1. July 18, 2009

    […] {recipe} Pork Adobo […]