Chicken and Pork Adobo a la Krystle

Adobo has been a personal culinary achievement of mine, mostly because it was the first dish that I ever learned to cook. It was about 5 years ago when I first tried to cook adobo, it was huge failure and it even bordered close to inedible. I put too much soy sauce in it and it looked like this black mess, the taste was even more horrid. My dad made fun of it and he even ordered adobo in a restaurant just to give me an example of how it should taste like.


However, I only learned how to cook adobo during my internship in Washington, DC back in 2009. It was a promise that I made with the guy that I was hanging out with back then. My very first time to cook anything for a guy...ever! Anyway, we even had to drive out to the filipino store in Virginia just to buy all of the ingredients plus a couple of balut eggs just for fun. I slaved over this dish in my little kitchen for about an hour and I remember doing a little dance after tasting the dish. It was epic. It reminded me of home and my mom. The verdict? Well he loved it and even had multiple servings. There were some leftover which my bestfriend who lived a few doors down finished! He even said that he could smell the aroma down the hallway and it made him hungry. My adobo was also a hit during our little international potluck christmas party. Yeah!


So here it is, my special chicken and pork adobo...


Ingredients:
1/2 kilo chicken, cut into pieces 
1/2 kilo pork belly, cut into cubes
1 head garlic, smashed
1 yellow onion, sliced
1/2 cup ginger, smashed 
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 cup vinegar
2 cups water
5-6 dried bay leaves
5 tablespoons sugar
paprika
4 tablespoons olive oil
whole peppercorns
cornstarch
salt and pepper, to taste




1. Heat up a large pan and sauté the garlic and onions. 


2. Add the pork and chicken to the pan. Mix well.


3. Add the water, soy sauce, vinegar, bay leaves, paprika, peppercorns and sugar. Do not mix. Just let it sit and cook on its own. Bring to a boil. Once it starts to boil, cover and allow to simmer for 30 minutes or until meat is tender.


4. Remove the chicken and pork from the sauce. Set the sauce aside. In another pan, brown the meat with the crushed ginger. 


5. Once the meat is golden brown, add the sauce. Mix well. Add cornstarch dissolved in water to thicken the sauce. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 5 more minutes or until the sauce has reached your desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.




Your adobo should have this perfect marriage of sweetness, with the slight hint of salty and tangy then that little kick of spice in the end. Mmmmm...not to mention the salivating aroma that fills your kitchen and creeps into your neighbors houses as well!




YUMMY IN MY TUMMY! with a little dance. ;)

Annabel's

My parents are celebrating their anniversary today, so we decided to eat out for our Sunday lunch.


Destination: Annabel's in Tomas Morato


This is my first time to ever eat in Annabel's but apparently its been around for a while and is also my father's favorite venue for his business meetings or power lunches. 


The ambience gives of this very traditional filipino house, it somewhat reminded me of my grandparent's house...which is now our house. Hmmm. Actually its much like Sonya's Garden in Tagaytay. There were all these vines and greenery adorned on the walls and windows. Down to the matching china and delicate table cloth. Oh not to mention the waiters wearing some sort of barong inspired uniforms as well. All in all, it was perfect for a sunday lunch with the family.


Annabel's is famous for its all-you-can-eat buffet, which is actually a bit expensive at PHP895++/person, from appetizers down to the dessert. So, here's what I had...

Baked Oysters, Salmon and Tuna Sushi, Kani and Salmon Maki Rolls

Warm bread served with a cheese selection and butter.

This was served with Cream of Pumpkin Soup

Watermelon Shake

Prime Rib with Gravy and Potato Wedge, Roasted Pork Belly

Rosemary Chicken with Broccoli, Seafood in White Sauce, Lapu-Lapu Milanese

Canonigo, Mango Mousse, Carrot Cake

There were a lot more items in that buffet that I wasn't able to try anymore since I was already stuffed after the 4th course. I also had a fresh green salad and pumpkin soup which I no longer featured here. Mind you, I barely survived the main course! However, thanks to the canonigo, which was simply divine, I was able to have this pleasant memory of eating at Annabel's...instead to the over-stuffed and satiated feeling I had earlier. We had lunch almost 5 hours ago and I still feel stuffed! If only I could go back just for the Canonigo...

YUMMY IN MY TUMMY!

Woori Jib and Nice Mart

FINALLY, my craving for Korean food has been satisfied. Thanks too my cousins who took me with them while waiting for our other older cousins. The spontaneous Korean dinner became our unofficial pre-game for another infamous soul searching/family bonding/epic drinking session which usually lasts until 5am. 

Mind you, I have been craving for authentic Korean food much like my beloved Honey Pig Restaurant in Annandale, Virginia since I got back to the Philippines in May 2010.

 

Off we went to WOORI JIB, an authentic Korean Restaurant along Kalayaan Avenue in Quezon City. We ordered quite a bit despite the fact that we were already full after munching on the free appetizers. Mmmm. Free appetizers consisted of kimchi, bean sprouts, tofu, pickled radish among others. All of which I believe are refillable too! YUM.

There was one dish that evening that I was really curious to try, Kimbap, mostly because I wasn't able to try it in Honey Pig. Those rolls were really yummy and we devoured them really quickly too! Its like any ordinary Maki Roll stuffed with rice, pork and veggies. This one however didn't need wasabi or soy sauce to go with it. We ordered a lot but I failed to document everything because I was busy enjoying the yummyness of everything that was infront of me. I don't even remember the names of the food that we ordered! I just remember that it was spicy and yummy and immaculate. I am seriously having hunger-pains as I write this. I guess this means that I need to go back again --- SOON. My birthday perhaps?

After stuffing ourselves up in Woori Jib, we then made our way to the nearby Korean Grocery called Nice Mart which was just around the corner to enjoy some ice cream. I was torn between the cheesecake ice cream, mochi, red bean popsicle and almost everything else in that freezer. However, I decided to go for the "fish ice cream" which at first really baffled me. Why would you want to eat fish ice cream? Seriously. Sounds nasty right? Apparently it was just called "fish ice cream" because of its shape. 

When you take it out of its wrapper you're greeted by this fish shaped wafer exterior. I decided to have a photo-op and gave it a lil kiss on the lips just for kicks. The wafer tastes like your normal ice cream cone, nothing special about it except that it keeps you from making a total mess as you normally would with any other ice cream sandwich. Then theres the silky vanilla ice cream with the sudden sweet surprise of the mashed red beans. 

YUMMY IN MY TUMMY!

Woo Ri Jib is located on Kalayaan Ave., Quezon City. If you're coming from the Elliptical Road, it's in between V. Luna and Matalino streets and a few blocks past Adarna Food & Culture restaurant. Private rooms are available on the second floor, for a minimum of Php2,000 order. Woo Ri Jib is open until 10PM