Adobo (Chicken Drumsticks) Recipe – Instant Pot Version

I first learned to cook adobo with a simple recipe that was easy to adjust no matter the amount of meat or vegetables I was cooking: 1 part vinegar, 2 parts soy sauce, 3 parts water, garlic, bay leaves and black pepper.

You are probably questioning, like I did when I first heard this recipe, “But how much garlic, bay leaves and black pepper is that exactly?” I don’t recall what I was told but it was something like, several pieces of garlic, a few bay leaves and pepper according to taste preferences. Being OCD, these kind of responses drive me crazy because I want to know precise measurements, even taking it so far as to question: If the bay leaf is big, equating to the size of two smaller bay leaves, does that count as 1 or 2 leaves?

After cooking this recipe for decades and modifying it many different ways, I have come to my own version of adobo that I cook in an Instant Pot rather than a regular stovetop. It is easier to throw everything into a pot and walk away to do other things while it cooks. Since I prefer a stronger flavor with a hint of spiciness, I eliminate the water from the recipe and use a spiced vinegar in equal amount to the soy sauce. Here is my recipe using chicken drumsticks for 2 servings, which is 2 drumsticks per person. This is my favorite meat to use for adobo:

Ingredients

• 4 chicken drumsticks (weight is ~1.5 lbs depending on the size of the drumsticks)
• 7 small cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 T cooking oil
• 3 small dried bay leaves, rinsed
• 1/2 cup Datu Puti spiced vinegar
• 1/2 cup Silver Swan soy sauce
• Freshly ground black pepper, according to preferred taste (I use A LOT of pepper to add to the heat of the dish)

Directions

1. Heat Instant Pot on Sauté setting.
2. In 1 T of heated cooking oil, lightly brown garlic until fragrant.
3. Add chicken, vinegar, soy sauce, bay leaves and black pepper.
4. Cancel Instant Pot Sauté setting and lock lid into place with pressure valve closed.
5. Set Instant Pot to Poultry setting, which defaults to High Pressure for 20 minutes.
6. Natural Release if eating immediately, otherwise Instant Release if not eating it that day.
   • NOTE: I prefer to make this dish the night before I plan to eat it because when it sits in the refrigerator, the seasoning infuses into the meat and is more flavorful the next day or two. I use instant release so the meat does not overcook as I will cook it more when heating it back up. If eating it right away, I use natural release so it has more time to cook because I prefer it when the meat is almost falling off the bone.

Notes

• Alternate Meat or Vegetable options that I personally use and make:
  • Chicken – bone-in thighs or wings (I do not recommend using breast)
  • Fish – Catfish
  • Pork – Belly, rib tips (bone-in), or pig’s feet
  • Vegetable – Kangkong (known as water spinach, water morning glory, Chinese watercress or ong choy)
• Garlic: I love garlic so tend to put a lot more than what a normal recipe would call for. Size of the cloves will also determine how many I use. For example, instead of 7 small cloves, I would use 4 large cloves.
• Bay Leaf: I will adjust the number of leaves according to the size of the leaf. For example, instead of 3 small leaves, I would use one large leaf that I break into 3 smaller pieces that would equate to the size of a small leaf. The leaves should be removed prior to serving since they should not be eaten.
• Vinegar: Plain white vinegar and apple cider vinegar may be used, but there will be a difference in taste. The non-spicy native vinegar that is often used for this dish is dark brown in color and called “Sukang Iloco (Sugarcane Juice Vinegar) and I prefer the Datu Puti brand.
• Soy Sauce: Silver Swan is a dark soy sauce. If using a light soy sauce, I recommend doubling the amount so it is 2 parts soy sauce to 1 part vinegar.
• Pepper: In addition to black pepper, I sometimes add whole hot peppers from the spiced vinegar, which contains bits of onion, garlic and hot peppers. Fresh peppers may also be used.
• Sauce: Adobo can be made dry or with a lot of sauce. My preference is to have a lot of sauce so I can drizzle it over my white rice, make adobo fried rice the next morning and/or marinate peeled hard boiled eggs in the sauce for a few days.
• Other: Onion or potato may be added in the dish.
• Cook time: The traditional way to cook adobo is to slow simmer it over a stove top. Depending on the meat or vegetable used, cook times will vary. If doing vegetable or fish adobo, I prefer to use the stovetop versus the instant pot to avoid overcooking. When using the instant pot, I google standard times based on the type of meat and use the recommended guidelines accordingly.