A Few BBQ Tips for July 4 Grillers: The Filipino Adobo Grilled

In remembrance of our friends and relatives in the USA who could be out there planning their Fourth of July BBQ party as early as now, here are some tips I came up with to help you out. Adobo, the Philippine national dish, is not just stewed meat boiled in its own sauce. One nice way of serving adobo is to boil the meat in adobo sauce then grill it.

You will need:
800 g to 1kg Chicken cut up
one cup of soy sauce
half a cup of vinegar
laurel leaves
5 garlic bulbs crushed
whole peppercorns
Salt or Fish Sauce
Five Spice Powder
Sesame Oil
salt

Combine everything except the sesame oil and five spice powder in a bowl and let stand for an hour. Transfer everything in a casserole and boil for 3 minutes before simmering for 15 minutes more. Do NOT stir. Remove the chicken from the sauce, drain and set aside. Add five spice and sesame oil to the still boiling sauce just before turning off the heat. Fire up the grill and arrange the chicken so that the heat sears the outer parts quickly (remember that the inside is already cooked). Baste generously with the sauce until the chicken is golden brown or grilled to perfection!

For a spicier variation, one can add tabasco sauce during the basting phase.

Grilled chicken like these make moms like me carbo load more than any other cooking style. Sticky, delicious adobo can make one forget to take her wieght loss pills. But the heady All-Filipino taste is definitely worth it!