The Philippines' signature dish, adobo, will soon have a standard cooking technique to help food businessmen with capturing that authentic adobo flavor, the Department of Trade and Industry said Friday.
The technical committee on Filipino dishes under the DTI's Bureau of Philippine Standards is tasked of coming up with the formula from a myriad of preparations and variations -- dry, soupy, sweet, spicy, with coconut milk (adobo sa gata), with ginger (adobo sa dilaw), without soy sauce.
Adobo is basically protein (pork, chicken or beef) stewed slowly in garlic, black pepper vinegar and soy sauce. There are also adobo recipes for vegetables like sitaw (snake beans) and kang kong.
“Standardizing the basic cooking technique for Philippine adobo will help ordinary citizens, foodies, and food businesses determine and maintain the authentic Filipino adobo taste,” BPS Director Neil Catajay said.
The process started in May when chef Glenda Barretto of Via Mare got to work developing a national standard for adobo. Baretto chairs the technical committee.
The vice chair, chef Myrna Segismundo said, this would preserve the dish's cultural identity despite variations in ingredients and cooking methods.
“Adobo is not a recipe. It is a cooking technique,” said chef Raoul Roberto Goco from Food Writers Association of the Philippines, who also serves as committee vice chair.
Once available, the draft national standard for adobo will be circulated nationwide for review and comments.
The DTI said the committee also planned to develop a national standard for cooking other popular Pinoy dishes such as sinigang (sour soup), lechon (roasted pig), and sisig (chopped pork with pig's head and liver).
