Michael Madriguera, Executive Sous Chef, The Club at Kalea Bay in Naples, Fla., says his Filipino pork adobo, featuring egg and daikon salad, stems from his heritage.
“This recipe is a family recipe traditionally in the Visayas Region of the Philippines,” he says, “and each has its own version of recipe and method of how to make or even eat this. My family’s recipe is almost like a confit, with lots of garlic. Back in the day, our ancestors made this to preserve the pork by using a souring agent such as vinegar and calamansi (a citrus native to the Philippines). We like to accompany it with a salad, such as daikon salad, which has an intense, sour flavor to cut off the fatty and rich flavor of the adobo.”
The dish has evolved over time, he notes; each region or family with its own distinct variation.
“Filipino adobo is considered the national dish of the Philippines,” he adds. “Some will argue that adobo comes from Spanish colonizers, hence the name ‘adobo.’ But long before the Spaniards colonized the Philippines, our ancestors have been making this dish as a way of preserving the meats.
Pork and chicken are widely used, as well as fish, such as different varieties of tuna.
“Personally,” he continues, “I believe Filipino adobo is a basket of cultural influences from the Spaniard’s use of peppercorn and bay leaf to the Chinese’s soy sauce and to the Malays use of vinegar.”
