I am on a mission to find the greatest version of chicken and rice, if such even exists. We now travel to the Philippines, where we experience chicken adobo. Today I brought on Filipino chef and restaurant owner Leah Cohen to show me her own special recipe for chicken adobo. According to Lia marinating the chicken isn’t necessary since we’re already braising it. We actually get a much better sear this way, and we really render out that chicken fat before the sugars from the marinade would’ve burnt. We save that good fat to sauté some onion and a LOT of garlic before adding in soy sauce, cane vinegar, water, sugar, and coconut milk, her secret ingredient that adds some fatty richness which helps balance all the salt and acid in there. Bay leaves and tons of black pepper go in before submerging the chicken into its flavor slumber. In the meantime, we do a quick garlic fried rice as the perfect adobo companion–I’m starting to think you filipinos enjoy your garlic. Once the chicken is tender, and the sauce is thick and luxurious, we serve it up. It was an honor cooking with and learning from such an accomplished chef, and even better I got to actually eat her food. Adobo has some big flavors but it’s really about simplicity. It’s a dish of balance since there aren’t many ingredients. This means that each one has to exist with one another in harmony, and there was an orchestra playing in my mouth. It ties the kabsa with 8.8/10