American wrestler and model Travis Kraft teaches us how to cook Adobo. In Filipino. Oh my, his accent is just delightful.

Oh wow. How hilarious. Adobong manak. Funny naman. I think Travis did this video in a deliberate American accent just to be funny.

Travis adoptive mother is a Filipina from Bataan. It was she who encouraged Travis to come and visit the Philippines. In 2003, he traveled to Thailand, Korea, Japan and the Philippines. It was his first visit to the country but he found the Philippines the best country “because people are super friendly and everyone is cute.” That explains why he cooks adobo.

Travis’ adobo recipe is different from mine. I prefer not to use soy sauce. During my student days in the dorm, my mom would often bring adobo in a bottle. The adobo can keep in the bottle without refrigeration (We didn’t have a refrigerator in the dorm). The adobo got consumed right away so there was no need to store it for long.

Here is the soy-sauce free version of my adobo which I call the “white adobo”

2 kilos pork (with some fatty parts like the belly or liempo)
10 cloves garlic
1 tsp coarsely cracked pepper
2 pcs laurel leaves
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cups sukang puti or coco vinegar (datu puti)
1 1/2 tablespoon sea salt

!. Combine all ingredients in a thick saucepan or kawali,

2. Cover and simmer over medium heat. Check occasionally and stir to prevent the meat from sticking to
the bottom of the pan. Allow liquid to reduce. Cook until fully reduced and only the oil is visible, with the sauce dried into tasty bits clinging to the meat.

3. Turn up the heat to crisp them meat and cook until crispy golden brown. Adjust heat occasionally to prevent the meat from scorching. Serve warm with tomatoes or native pickles (achara)

You can store the adobo in a clean jar with cover. Allow to cool and store in refrigerator or cool dark part of pantry. When submerged in pork fat and properly cooked, adobo will keep for several parts in the refrigerator.