Adobo Chicken

Filipino Chicken Adobo is the national dish of the Philippines. It’s a quick & easy recipe that yields juicy, tender chicken coated in a sweet savoury glaze with little pops of heat from peppercorns.

750g chicken thigh fillets, boneless and skinless (5 - 6 pieces)
3 garlic cloves , minced
1/3 cup (85ml) soy sauce , ordinary all purpose or light (ideally not dark soy sauce)
1/3 cup + 2 tbsp white vinegar
4 bay leaves (fresh) or 3 dried

2 tbsp oil for frying
3 garlic cloves , minced
1 small onion , diced
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) water
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp whole black pepper, roughly smashed with pestle & mortar (leaving some whole)

Combine chicken and marinade ingredients in a bowl. Marinate for at least 20 minutes, or up to overnight.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a skillet over high heat.
Remove chicken from marinade (reserve marinade) and place in the pan.
Sear both sides until browned – about 1 minute on each side.
Remove chicken from skillet and set aside.
Heat the remaining oil in the same skillet.
Add garlic and onion, cook 1 1/2 minutes.
Add the reserved marinade, water, sugar and black pepper.
Bring it to a simmer then turn heat down to medium high and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add chicken and simmer uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes (no need to stir), turning chicken at around 15 minutes, until the sauce reduces down to a thick jam-like syrup.
If the sauce isn't thick enough, remove chicken onto a plate and let the sauce simmer by itself - it will thicken much quicker - then return chicken to the skillet to coat in the glaze.
Coat chicken in glaze then serve with Filipino Fried Garlic Rice (Sinangag) and Smashed Cucumber Salad.