Adobo - Mexican? Filipino? Both!

Adobo simply means sauce or seasoning in Spanish. Mexican adobo is usually associated with chipotle chilies in adobo sauce in the little cans. Recipes for both versions are as varied as there are mothers in the world. The Spanish has had a LOT of influence in the Phillipines and it shows in their food. Although simmering meat in vinegar is a local Filipino method, which the Spanish called adobo when they first encountered it. Through the years, the name stuck to any foods prepared in a stewing liquid involving vinegar and soy sauce with other spices.

In the Phillipines, adobo is normally meat (chicken, beef, pork, squid) or vegetables (okra, water spinach/kangkung, string beans) stewed in soy sauce, bay leaves, vinegar, garlic and peppercorns. If it's hearty meat (beef, pork, lamb, chicken, etc) some adobo recipes call for pan frying them at the end of the cooking process to crisp up the edges of the meat and intensifies the flavor while the stewing sauce is thickening.

Mexican adobo is normally dried chilies slow fried in oil until fragrant, then garlic, cumin, coriander, onion, salt, vinegar/lime juice and tomatoes (tomato sauce and paste combination and/or fresh) are added. Once everything is cooked, blend until smooth.