Slow Cooker Chicken Adobo with Pineapple and Red Chili Pepper

We Filipinos love our adobo. But how well loved and addictive is adobo a popular Filipino dish to the non Filipinos? I will cite some examples to show how hooked some are. In his book, You Can Cook Everything, the very famous cookbook author, Mark Bittman referred to the Filipino Chicken Adobo as the best chicken dish in the world. One of my favorite bloggers Gina Homolka of Skinny Taste fame mentioned in her post on adobo that she cooks it at least once a month for her family. In a past blogpost on pork adobo, I told the story of my then future son-in-law asking his mom to cook for him this Filipino dish when he was recuperating from a knee surgery. Not any other American comfort food like mac and cheese or beef stew but adobo. My non Filipino husband and our two fusion children share the love for this dish more than any other Filipino dish I serve them without coercion or trepidation.

Preparing adobo takes only a few basic ingredients consisting of soy sauce, vinegar and garlic. One can use either pork, chicken, beef or even squid. Filipinos have also prepared Adobong Sitaw a vegetarian version.

My sister Bebeng at a recent visit in Los Angeles made me try adobo with pineapple in it. It was not love at first bite but it actually grew on me. These past few days I have been depending on pineapple juice and chunks to help me lessen the pain of my arthritis in my hips and pelvic area. It seemed to help. This encouraged me to try what my sister attempted.

I decided to use the slow cooker for this new version which I have used before in cooking adobo in this blogpost. I also added another twist which is not customarily used but which I have done before in one of my versions of adobo in this blogpost namely, the addition of hot pepper. This time I used instead of bottled jalapeno, fresh red chili pepper. These peppers which were given to me by my friend Sally were staring at me from my kitchen counter with its bright red shiny color screaming, "use me, use me".

The slow cooker is such a convenient tool. While this was cooking I was able to go to Mass and then chatted with some friends.  I was even able to invite them to an already cooked lunch. My invited friends, Nenette and Olie, were the first guinea pigs of this new version and they were not adverse to it.  My picky husband did not question the addition of the pineapple. For me it was as good as the original. The pineapple gave a sweet and sour taste but did not detract from the soy sauce, vinegar, garlicky taste of the original. For some reason, the red chili pepper did not give much heat but instead gave a whisper of that pepper taste of green or red pepper. Perhaps because I added it whole and was not brave enough to slice it. Anyway it was not a distraction.

I will make this again and again not only because it is deliciously addictive and simple to make but also with the pineapple in it I feel or is it just in my head, it is helping with my arthritis.

Slow Cooker Chicken Adobo with Pineapple and Red Chili Pepper

Inspired by this past blogpost

• 2.5 lb mix boneless chicken parts or you can use bone in skin on chicken thighs or legs also
• 6 cloves of garlic, skin removed and crushed
• 14-oz can pineapple chunks in 100 % of its own juice, undrained
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 1 to 2 red chili peppers, whole or cut in half if you want heat

Place all the ingredients in the slow cooker.  Cook for 6 hours at high setting or 3 hours at low.  I cooked mine in an Aroma Brand rice cooker/slow cooker at slow cooker setting for 2 hours.

Serve over rice and have plenty of it since the sauce is a rice guzzler. So good.