Chicken adobo is one of the most famous foods to try in the Philippines, known and loved by everyone.

Adobo means “marinade” in Spanish and this is just that: chicken (or pork) marinated in a mixture of soya sauce and vinegar. This was traditionally used as a way of cooking meat because the acid from the vinegar and high salt content of the soya sauce produced an undesirable environment for bacteria. Other ingredients are added depending on whose recipe you follow.

An authentic adobo is cooked in clay pots, but today it’s more common to see them prepared in a wok or metal pot.