This taco twist on a filipino favorite has a little sweet, spicy, creamy, and crunch!
Happy Tuesday friends!! As I mentioned in my last post, it’s National Filipino-American History month! So I’m bringing you a new taco recipe today incorporating probably the most well-known filipino dish, chicken adobo.
Chicken adobo is my ultimate comfort food and was a staple weeknight dinner growing up. My Mom made it for me many many times over, but since she doesn’t really measure ingredients, finding the right balance of salt, sweet, and vinegar took some trial and error. Here you’ll find my adobo recipe; the smell of its marinade bubbling reminds me of my childhood and makes my own lil’ family very happy.
As much as I love chicken adobo with just plain white rice, lately I’ve been having fun experimenting with twists on classic filipino flavors. And I’ve had the idea of putting together a filipino-inspired taco for awhile now.
THE HOW TO
I started with my go-to chicken adobo recipe. Usually I only use bone-in chicken. It really adds a lot of flavor to the original dish. But since I knew I wanted to shred the chicken for these tacos, I only used boneless skinless chicken thighs this time.
When it comes to taco fillings and toppings, I love a combination of colors, flavors, and textures. I want my tortilla to barely wrap around.
A texture that is really key for me in a good taco is crunch. Anything from radishes to corn salsa to unripened mango makes me so happy.
A fruit commonly used in Filipino cooking is green papaya. Growing up, I was most familiar with green papaya softened in soups such as Chicken Tinola. However, as a raw fruit, it has a great crunch and a mild crisp flavor. If you’ve ever had a papaya salad at a Thai restaurant, then you know what I’m talking about.
For these tacos, I created this quick green papaya slaw. I found this nifty shredding peeler tool at my local asian market and got to shreddin’. Once I got the hang of the tool, it was pretty quick getting to these beautiful papaya strings. I tossed the papaya in a vinaigrette made with lime juice, rice vinegar, fish sauce (patis), chili powder, and agave. And then I topped with some chili-lime salt.
Ok so now for the rest of the fillings. To incorporate a little bit of the season, I roasted some butternut squash and tossed with more chili lime salt. Just look at that gorgeous color!
Because I usually eat adobo with rice, I wanted some kind of rice in these tacos. I decided to sauté cauliflower rice with coconut oil and annatto powder. Annatto power gave it that golden color.
On the side I served with limes for more acidity and sliced cayenne peppers for more heat…
…and last, but definitely not least I had to add something cool and creamy (where my sour cream lovers at?!). I topped with creme fraiche. Now I must admit, it felt a little unorthodox to put something creamy on chicken adobo. But all these toppings combined were so good!
I hope you love these as much as I do friends!! Thanks as always for reading!!
Valerie
- 12 Soft taco size tortillas
- For the chicken adobo: 8 boneless skinless chicken thighs, bone in
- ¾ cup soy sauce
- ½ cup palm vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
- 5 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 tablespoon peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 3 bay leaves
- For the green papaya slaw: 1 green papaya, peeled and seeds removed
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon agave
- Juice from 1 lime
- ½ teaspoon of chili powder
- For the cauliflower rice: 4 cups cauliflower rice (frozen or fresh), 1 teaspoon of annatto powder
- For the butternut squash: 4 cups of chopped butternut squash
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon salt
- Optional garnishes:
- Fresh limes
- Scallions, chopped
- Fresh Cayenne peppers, sliced
- Creme fraiche
- For the chicken adobo:
- In a large bowl, create the marinade by stirring together the soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, peppercorns, brown sugar, crushed red pepper, and bay leaves. Place the chicken in the bowl and marinate in the refrigerator for at least one hour (and up to overnight).
- After marinating, place the chicken and marinade plus 1 cup of water in a large pot. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat to low, cover and simmer for 25 minutes.
- Uncover the pot, carefully remove the chicken with thongs, and place it on a plate.
- Turn up the heat on the pot and boil the liquid until reduced by half.
- While the liquid is reducing, use two forks to shred the chicken thighs.
- Add the chicken back to the pot and let the shredded chicken cook in the marinade for 5 more minutes.
- For the green papaya slaw: Shred the green papaya and set aside. In a small bowl combine all the vinaigrette ingredients. Add the shredded green papaya and place in the refrigerator to keep chilled until serving.
- For the cauliflower rice: Heat vegetable or coconut oil in a pan at medium heat. Add the cauliflower rice, and sauté for 5 minutes. Add in the annatto powder and a pinch of salt, toss, and sauté for a few more minutes.
- For the butternut squash: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the butternut squash on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Toss with oil and the chili powder and salt. Place in the oven and roast for 30 minutes.
- To build your tacos: Add some shredded chicken adobo, cauliflower rice, butternut squash, and green papaya slaw. Top with fresh sliced peppers, chopped scallions, fresh lime juice, and creme fraiche.
Thanks for sharing Aventure