Filipino vegetable adobo
Chicken adobo is a classic dish from my mum’s country, the Philippines – it’s the one that visitors remember most for its succulent chicken and rich and salty gravy, thanks to the soy sauce, and for the tart taste of vinegar. Growing up I used to ask my mum to cook extra of the adobo sauce to pour over veggies, so this is my re-creation of that meal.
As a vegetarian dish it can lack some of the lustre of the meat version so I’ve included plenty of ghee, aubergine for succulence and bite, and sweet potato to add sweetness. If you’re not vegetarian then feel free to use homemade chicken bone broth (see here) as the gravy base for a more for authentic flavour. I use tamari (the Japanese version of soy sauce) as it’s easy to find a good-quality brand and is typically gluten-free (check the label). If you’re using bouillon to make the gravy base, then add tamari slowly as it is very salty. This is also a nice dish to throw bitter greens such as chard, into and if you can get them, use Chinese-style snake beans or English green beans, rather than the fine green beans. My favourite sweet potato for this is the Jamaican sort if you can find it at your local shops – pinky red skin and white flesh – and I love the small Asian-style aubergines for extra flavour.
Tamari, soy sauce and vinegar are all fermented so should only be eaten occasionally, in small amounts. This recipe also uses lots of garlic so be sure to pack this dish with enough vegetables to balance out such a strong-tasting salty gravy. You can also swap the apple cider vinegar for lime juice if you want. I’ve served this with basmati rice – for a nuttier combo go for brown basmati rice, soaked overnight and slightly overcooked to make it easier to digest.
Serves 4
3 tbsp ghee
1 medium onion, sliced
5 cloves garlic, sliced
500ml (2 cups) bouillon stock, bone broth (see here) or hot water
3 bay leaves
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp ground white pepper
5 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 large sweet potato, cut into 2.5cm (1in) cubes (about 640g prepared weight)
2 aubergines, chopped into 1cm (½ in) slices
2 tbsp tamari, to taste, add a dash more if using water instead of stock or bone broth
200g (1⅓ cups) green beans, halved on the diagonal
FOR THE RICE
200g (1 cup) white basmati rice, rinsed
370ml (1½ cups) water
½ tsp sea salt
1 Melt the ghee in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over a medium heat and sauté the onion until soft. Add the garlic and sauté for another minute.
2 Add the remaining ingredients. Stir, bring to the boil, then simmer for 20 minutes, lid on. After 10 minutes, check there is enough water, then replace the lid. Do not stir too much to avoid mashing the sweet potato.
3 Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, combine the rice with the water and salt and bring to the boil. Stir, then cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 18 minutes, lid on. Remove from the heat and stand, covered, for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.
4 Add the green beans to the adobo and simmer, lid off, for another 5 minutes or until tender. Serve the rice in bowls with the adobo spooned over the top.