12 COOK’S COUNTRY • APRIL/MAY 2019
ADOBO, THE POTENT, pleasantly
bitter sauce made from dried chiles,
plays many roles in the cuisines of
Mexico and the American Southwest:
marinade, braising sauce, baste, and
tableside condiment for all kinds of
meats. (In Filipino cuisine, adobo is
something else altogether.) Making ado-
bo should be relatively easy: Toast dried
chiles to activate their flavor, soak them,
and then pulverize them in a blender
with vinegar, herbs, and garlic. The best
versions are simultaneously complex
and deeply comforting. I set out to
make a recipe for chicken in adobo that
was easy and tasted amazing.
The recipes I found called for dif-
ferent chiles—chipotle, guajillo, ancho,
arbol, and pasilla chiles were all in
play. My tasters thought that chipotle
(smoked-and-dried jalapeño) and arbol
chiles brought too much heat to the
party and pasilla chiles were a little
too rich in this dish; fruity ancho and
guajillo chiles, which are available in the
Latin American section of most super-
markets, were the best way forward.
Next, I tested various methods
to help the chiles reach their fullest
potential. Some recipes call for frying
the dried chiles in oil to bloom their
flavor; this was messy and heightened
the chiles’ bitterness in an unpleasant
way. I found that it was much better and
easier to quickly dry-toast the chiles on
a baking sheet in the oven; this brought
out their multifaceted flavors but not
their bitterness.
Once I’d soaked the toasted chiles in
hot tap water for 5 minutes, they were
soft and pliable and ready to be buzzed
in the blender. Some recipes call for
adding the soaking water, but again, we
found the results unpleasantly bitter. I
used a little chicken broth instead; the
broth added savoriness and, along with
a bit of cider vinegar and orange juice,
thinned the blended chiles into a flavor-
ful sauce. A little brown sugar helped
deepen the adobo’s enchanting flavors.
Once the adobo sauce was ready,
marrying it with the chicken was
simple. I seared bone-in chicken pieces
in a Dutch oven and then transferred
the pieces to a plate while I sautéed
some chopped onion in the rendered
chicken fat. I added garlic, tomato
paste, oregano, cumin, cinnamon, and
orange zest and then the potent adobo
from the blender. I nestled the chicken
pieces back into the pot, skin side up,
and moved the pot to the oven so the
chicken could gently cook through in
the flavorful sauce.
By now the kitchen smelled incred-
ible, and my colleagues were starting to
hover around my workstation. I plated
some chicken for my hungry tasters,
spooned the sauce over top, and sprin-
kled on some chopped cilantro. Some
of my coworkers made little tacos withthe tortillas I’d warmed, and others ate
the saucy chicken with a knife and fork,
but they all had one thing in common:
They asked for seconds.CHICKEN IN ADOBO Serves 4
One ounce of guajillo chiles is about
eight chiles; ½ ounce of ancho chiles is
approximately one chile. Remove the
strips of orange zest with a vegetable
peeler. You can use all white-meat
or all dark-meat chicken pieces, if
desired. Serve with rice or warm
flour tortillas.1 ounce dried guajillo chiles, stemmed
and seeded
½ ounce dried ancho chiles, stemmed
and seeded1½ cups chicken broth
¼ cup cider vinegar
2 (3-inch) strips orange zest plus
2 tablespoons juice
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
13⁄4 teaspoons table salt, divided
1 teaspoon pepper, divided
3 pounds bone-in chicken pieces
(2 split breasts cut in half crosswise,
2 drumsticks, and 2 thighs), trimmed
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped fine
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Lime wedgesNever cooked with dried chiles before? This potent yet comforting sauce is a great starting point.Chicken
in Adobo
This fragrant, rich chile
sauce isn’t fiery, but it
will add a spark to your
weeknight chicken
routine. by Alli Berkey