My Most Perfect Adobo

While compiling adobo recipes for this book, I decided to cook one, to see if I still had what it took to make a good adobo. I hadn’t made one at home since we opened the restaurant ten years ago. Whenever customers in the restaurant ask for our chicken adobo recipe, I challenge them to make their own version without giving specific measurements. I give people the basic concepts, emphasizing the use of the best ingredients. My theory is that if you free people from the tyranny of exact measurements, they can create their own perfect adobo. Achieving the ultimate nuances of flavors in an adobo is a very personal and subjective experience. It is a search for the balance of vinegar to salt that will complement the rest of the dish.