Filipino Chicken Adobo

Another way to use up some of that delicious home-made vegetable stock. Adobo is apparently Philippines' national dish. It is made up of soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, bay leaves and black peppercorn, stewed to create a characteristic salty and tangy flavour. To be honest, I have never had this dish before. I just kept stumbling upon various adobo recipes, and I couldn't resist sauces like this - oily, thick, brown...so good with rice.

The first time I made this, I added 1/2 cup vinegar and according to the wild boar, it was way too sour. The second round, I halved it and turned out much better. It was nonetheless still quite sour, this dish reminds me of pork trotters with black vinegar ??? - a common dish served during confinement after pregnancy. I love the tanginess but not the wild boar, well, he's generally not very fond of sour stuff anyway. It was generally very tasty, really good with rice. I like how you get a sudden burst of spicy flavour when you bite into the black peppercorns. I added some fresh basil, simply because I had some on the verge of wilting in the fridge, which added a nice aroma and fresh flavour.

Ingredients:
720g (about 7) chicken thighs1 large onion - sliced1/2 bulb garlic - peeled and crushed1/4 cup vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)1/4 cup light soy sauce1 cup home-made vegetable stock2 tbs brown sugar3 dried bay leaves1 1/2 tsp whole black peppercorn1 handful fresh basil - torned (optional)Directions:
Heat up a bit of oil in a large pot. Brown chicken pieces on all sides. Leave aside for later use.In the same pot, fry onions until softened and translucent.Add garlic, fry until fragrant.Mix in all the other ingredients including the chicken.Bring to boil then reduce heat to simmer until sauce thickened (about 30-45 mins).Stir in basil.Serve with rice!