These Filipino Adobo Chicken Wings have all the flavors of Adobo Chicken but in the form of chicken wings. I first experimented with this because I didn't have chicken thighs at home, but now I think chicken wings will be my new go-to.
Can't get enough Filipino food? Try my Garlic Butter Shrimp With Sprite next!
🍗 About This Recipe
Adobo Chicken is the "national dish" of the Philippines! Traditionally it's made with chicken legs, but recently I tried it with chicken wings, and I think it tasted even better.
Recently, I learned that meat marinades only penetrate about ⅛-inch into the meat. So if you're marinating something thick like chicken thighs, most of the meat doesn't actually get seasoned. That's why chicken wings work so well in this recipe, they're way thinner and much more of the meat gets flavored.
I’m not Filipino, but I’ve had my fair share of adobo chicken. I won’t claim this recipe is authentic by any means, but I’ve done a ton of research, and in my opinion it tastes just as good as the ones that I’ve had at Filipino restaurants in my city.
🧄 How I Like To Make The Marinade
Every Filipino household has its own version of Adobo, but one thing they all have in common is an extremely salty and acidic marinade/sauce. Today, I'm going to show you how I make my version of Adobo. I find the sauce to be very well-balanced and not too overwhelmingly acidic.
For the acidic component, I like using rice vinegar. It's milder and less acidic than other kinds of vinegar, and I just find it more flavorful. Many recipes use white vinegar, but I find the taste a little too harsh. If I can replace vinegar in a recipe with rice vinegar, I almost always do it.
The rest of the marinade is pretty traditional: soy sauce, garlic, black peppercorns, sugar, and a couple of bay leaves.
🧂 Ingredients
- Chicken Wings: You can use the drums or the flats for this. Try to find wings that are bigger. I don't like the small wings because they always end up overcooked.
- Marinade: Garlic, soy sauce, and rice vinegar. You're going to need a lot of each so make sure you have enough.
- Sauce: Water, bay leaves, brown sugar, black peppercorns, and more garlic. These are added during the braising step. If you don't have black peppercorns, you can use 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper. Some people also like to add a splash of fish sauce.
- Oil: For searing the chicken wings and cooking the garlic.
🔪 Instructions
STEP 1: Combine the chicken marinade ingredients in a bowl. Marinate for at least 30 minutes or overnight in the refrigerator. Try not to marinate longer than this or the chicken will take on a "cured" texture.
STEP 2: Heat one tablespoon of oil in a high-walled skillet over medium-high heat. Remove the chicken from the marinade (reserve the marinade) and place it in a single layer on the skillet. If there are too many wings, you'll need to do it in multiple batches. Sear both sides until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Remove the chicken to a plate. The goal here is to add color to the skin but not to cook the chicken through.
STEP 3: Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining tablespoon of oil. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
STEP 4: Add the reserved marinade, water, sugar, bay leaves, and black peppercorns. Stir until the sugar dissolves, and then return the chicken to the skillet.
STEP 5: Increase heat to high, and bring the liquid to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Flip the chicken wings and cook the other side in the sauce until cooked through. Transfer to a plate and serve with rice.
The chicken adobo can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Fun fact: Adobo actually tastes better the next day! This is because the vinegar flavor mellows out over time.
Thickening the sauce
If you want the sauce to be thicker, you have two options. One, you can boil the sauce, or two, you can add a cornstarch slurry. By boiling the sauce, you evaporate the water, and then the leftover sugar and gelatin will naturally thicken the sauce. The only downside is that the sauce will be more acidic and salty with the water gone.
To do the cornstarch slurry, just mix 1 part cornstarch to 2 parts water and add it slowly at a time until it thickens to your liking. Be careful not to overthicken it as the only way to unthicken it would be to add more water.
📋 Recipe
Adobo Chicken Wings
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade
- 1 ½ pounds chicken wings
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- ⅔ cup soy sauce
- ⅔ cup rice vinegar
For The Rest
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil (divided)
- 3 cloves garlic (sliced)
- 1 cup water
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns (or 1 teaspoon ground black pepper)
Instructions
- Combine the chicken marinade ingredients in a bowl. Marinate for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight in the refrigerator.
- Heat one tablespoon of oil in a high-walled skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, remove the chicken from the marinade (reserve the marinade) and place it in a single layer on the skillet. Sear both sides until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Remove the chicken to a plate.
- Reduce heat to medium. Add the remaining one tablespoon of oil to the empty skillet. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the reserved marinade, water, sugar, bay leaves, and black pepper. Stir until the sugar dissolves, and then return the chicken to the skillet.
- Increase heat to high, and bring the liquid to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, turning the chicken pieces after 10 minutes until cooked through and tender. Serve immediately over rice.
Leave a Reply