How to cook Adobo: Let me count the ways

There are numerous ways of cooking Adobo in the Philippines. Some say it’s, probably, the Philippines’s national dish. The most common way is to marinate pork or chicken – or a combination of both- in a vinegar-soy sauce concoction and generous amounts of minced garlic. Bring it to a boil but make sure that the marinade doesn’t dry out. Soy sauce came from Chinese influences so it is said that salt was used originally in its place. Add peppercorns and bay leaves, adjust the sourness-saltiness according to your palate and voila – you have Adobo in your hands. What goes best with this flavorful dish is a steaming plate of rice. Mixing a portion of the marinade into the rice further whets the appetite. Before you know it, you’re already asking for seconds.

Through the years, the recipe of Adobo has been modified and enhanced in various regions of the country. Some even take out vinegar in the equation, making soy sauce the stars of the show. Some add hard-boiled eggs and potatoes, coconut milk even.

To my mind, many ways of cooking one dish exemplifies unity in diversity in the Philippines. Our archipelago is divided into 7,107 islands with almost twenty ethnic groups with distinct subcultures and ways of living. In our different ways, we make one nation and we move towards one goal: the betterment of ourselves for our country. The numerous and evolving ways of cooking Adobo give us a glimpse of our own resourcefulness and resiliency as a race – no political or economic crisis, no major environmental disaster can stop us from smiling again and from rebuilding what we can.