Culinary Analysis of Adobo

Adobo /A-do-bo/ is avery popular Filipino food and is considered unofficially by

many as the national dish. The word adobo came from a spanish word "adobar" which
refers to a marinade or pickling sauce. But beyond that there is a little argument 'bout
its origin, so let us backtrack a bit. As Malay voyagers who origanally landed in the
Philippines uses vinegar and salt in preserving food and/or keeping food edible for
longer. In the hot tropical climate in the islands, vinegar serves as a traditional recipe
dating back to a time before refrigeration. Filipinos already had its own way of of
preparing there protein in a marinade of salt and vinegar before chinese traders came,
settled and brought here with them a number of ingredients, including soy sauce,
where locals quickly adopted and even uses it to replace salt and later on considered
as a key ingredient of a good adobo in most households. According to Doreen
Fernandez a renowned food expert “Adobo, …, is indigenous but bears a
Spanish/Mexican name, perhaps because of its similarity to the Mexican adobado” -
folklife-media. In the home town of one of our group member at Kauswagan,
Zambianga Sibugay, adobo is so popular and is often prepared during fiestas and
special occasions. According to her Lola this cuisine involves meat, seafood, or
vegetables marinated in vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaves, and black peppercorns,
which is browned in oil, and simmered ‘til it is yummy.

Zamboanga archipelago especially Zamboanga City has a Spanish decent and

even has a creole for Spanish which is Chavacano. Since adobo has a Spanish or
Mexican roots we could say that it is most likely to be one of the known cuisine of our
region. It has been part of their culture and it has been passed down from generations
to generations with the variety of preparation style and ingredients.

Pork Aadobo is perhaps one of the most favorite kind of adobo. We found a recipe
posted in panlasangpinoy.com:

How to Cook Pork Adobo

This version suggests marinating the pork to make it more flavorful. Pork belly and
other fatty cuts of pork are ideal for this recipe.
The first thing to do is marinate the pork belly in soy sauce and crushed garlic. It is
best to marinate it overnight. If time is limited, one hour should be enough.
Some like to add vinegar during the process. You may do so if preferred. Drain the
marinade. Save it for later.

 The marinated pork needs to be browned.

 Heat a cooking pot.
 Add pork with garlic.
 You can also add a few tablespoons of cooking oil.
 Cook the pork until it turns brown. The pork needs to be cooked until tender. Do
this by pouring the remaining marinade, if any. Also add water.
 Let the liquid boil.
 This is the part where I put the whole peppercorn and dried bay leaves. These
ingredients complete my pork adobo. Boiling for 40 minutes should be enough to
tenderize the pork.
 There are times when you have to cook longer. If you have not added the vinegar
as part of the marinade, pour it into the pot and let it cook for 10 minutes.
 Salt is an optional ingredient for this recipe. Use it only if you think its needed.

These are also some ingredients of pork adobo:

The recipe suggested by panlasangpinoy.com gives us the idea on how the cuisine
is given different versions and how each variant gives different kind of taste. As each
region of Philippines has its preferred flavor profile, there are so many versions we
can encounter such as adobo sa gata, a Southern luzon's adobo version, where coconut
milk is a popular ingredient, and adobong puti which is famous in Visayas region,
often known as the native adobo before incorporating the flavor of soy sauce. There
are countless twists on adobo, and around the Philippines you’ll find versions that
include sugar, liver, potatoes, morning glory, laurel leaves, the list goes on. We
Filipinos are good at improving something in order to get different variant especially
in food.
That’s why adobo evolves into a dish that could be prepared depending on the taste of
whom are preparing it.