Adobo Chicken in Parchment

我have made this recipe at least a dozen times since reading the recipe a few years ago. If you enjoy spice this is the perfect dish for entertaining. I use the water from soaking the Guajillo peppers for the recipe to add an additional kick. It's super spicy but it's a complex spice. Really delicious. Definitely remove the skin from the chicken before prepping this recipe. Steamed chicken skin is disgusting.

• Likecockatoos

• Brooklyn, NY

• 1/25/2016

我made this for my family on Cinco de Mayo this year and it was amazing!! All the ingredients were relatively easy to find at the nearby mexican supermarket. The steaming was really clever too... I was skeptical of this idea but the chicken really did turn out juicy and delicious. I found the method used for tying off the parchment was not very efficient. I wrapped mine the way I wrap a sandwich. :P They lay much flatter that way and are less bulky. I only had chicken thighs, so I put two of those in each package for a total of twelve thighs and didn't even need 1.75 hours to steam them. Great recipe, though. THe whole family raved about it. :)

• kookielvr89

• Columbus, OH

• 5/8/2010

Unfortunately I'm the minority with this recipe. I really don't think I would ever make it again. I made the recipe as stated, but it just wasn't something I enjoyed. I loved the tenderness of the chicken but the combination of spices really turned me off. The anise was really strong to me and the gaujillo chilies after cooking just smelled like old tea to me. I had such high hopes but it just wasn't for me I guess.

• Kittenrydell

• WA

• 2/8/2010

This was fairly easy for what it was and came out perfect. The chicken was moist and fell right off the bone plus cooking in parchment paper is a cool technique to use. Next time i may try to fold over and staple the bags shut instead of using string since i found them somewhat hard to tie off however i was using a smaller piece of parchment than was listed. I also only used 3/4 cup of water for the adobo. All together i would definitely make it again. I used some of the leftover adobo sauce to marinate chicken and tossed it on the grill which was also fantastic.

• scinerd3000

• Orange County, Ca

• 1/28/2010

我really wasn't a huge fan of this. I loved the concept of how the bird was cooked, and true to its word the meat was just hanging off the bones and was extremely tender. But I found the adobo to be extremely runny (and not at all the colour in the picture) and the adobo was wasted on the skin that nobody was going to eat anyway. If I were to do this again, and I won't, I would remove the skin and reduce the water component by 2/3.

• zepcom

• Toronto, ON

• 5/16/2009

This was fantastic stuff. The Adobo sauce was really delicious. I made it pretty much as-written in the recipe, but I'm pretty sure you could have gotten rid of the parchment and just simmered the chicken in a big pot with all the sauce. Will try that next time.

• cljacobs

• 12/30/2008

我f you can find the dried chilis, this is a really easy and good dish. I made the Adobo sauce in the morning, and it seemed like it would keep for 24-hrs. A benefit of steaming is that you can use the oven for other dishes, like Cheddar & Jalapeno Corn Sticks and Roasted Acorn Squash with Chili Vinagrette

• greenwd

• Arlington, MA

• 11/2/2008

我ncredible! Skin the chicken, reduce water to 1/2 cup. Didn't have a steamer, so I put it in the parchment packets, threw in the crockpot for 3 hours on low to steam inside of a small steamer basket. Left on low for about 3 hours - no clean up! Wonderful. Best over polenta although the husband and child had over rice. Most chiles can be found at cost plus and good mexican supermarkets. Most important - take the skin off!

• ruetman

• San Francisco

• 9/28/2008

This was incredible. I made it exactly as stated in the recipe, and then at the end I set the chicken legs aside, poured the juices into a pan, and boiled down and then degreased the sauce. Served it with polenta. My husband raved about it.

• lzagreus

• San Francisco, CA

• 9/13/2008

我took the skin off my quarters as no one at my house would eat steamed chicken skin and it also let the marinade penetrate the meat better. It was delicious. I could have eated 4 all by myself.

• jfain

• Columbus, OH

• 7/12/2008

Excellent recipe but I had to male some substitutions. I had Ancho chilies that I substituted for the de árbol chilies. I added two freshly roasted red peppers skinned and seeded. Used red wine vinegar and omitted the water entirely. I used boneless skinless thighs. Although it was a little unclear if the chilies were dry or fresh but Im pretty sure they were dry  thus the soaking in boiling water. Despite my numerous substitutions, I think I captured the spirit of the recipe and was very pleased with the results. To those other reviewers that couldnt locate the chilies, www.penzeys.com which has all of the dried chilies used in this recipe and more.

• Anonymous

• Central NJ

• 6/11/2008

我已经剩下酱鸡后。我froze it and then used it a week later to make pork spareribs using the same method of wrapping the meat in parchment and steaming it. It turned out very well. I cut the meat into individual ribs and wrapped 2 or 3 in one parchment package along with a third of a cup of the sauce. I steamed the packages for two hours. The meat was tender without being dry. The sauce retained its heat even after freezing but the taste of the cloves and the cinnamon wasn't as apparent as it had been when the sauce was fresh. If I use frozen sauce again, I would add perhaps a quarter teaspoon of each to perk up the flavor a bit. This method would work with larger cuts of pork as well, I think.

• Johnzie

• Boston, MA

• 5/30/2008

This was great! I couldn't get chiles de arbol, so I used some chinese hot peppers instead. I also had to substitute fennel seeds for the anise. And as others have, I skinned the legs. As stated, the chicken comes out rich and juicy, with a fantastic sauce. Ours did come out a little thin despite cutting down on the added water, but I certainly wouldn't say it was 'watery'. I may leave out the water altogether from the adobo next time though. I didn't have time to make any, but I would recommend corn bread as an accompaniment.

• skinnyboy

• Chester, UK

• 5/21/2008

This is delicious; I substituted skinless chicken thighs, and that worked very well. I served it with rice steamed with chicken broth and a pinch of saffron. Regarding sources for Hispanic food in the McLain, Virginia, area -- it is rich in Latino grocery stores, particularly in neighboring Arlington which has a large Hispanic population. Many large chain grocery stores have an 'ethnic' or 'international' section that has a large selection of dried chilies. I live in the area and have no trouble finding a wide selection of Hispanic food and spices.

• Anonymous

• silver spring, md

• 5/12/2008

This is quite good. I have a rice cooker with steaming baskets and used that. I could fit only four of the six legs into the baskets, however, and cooked the other two in a small casserole with a tight- fitting lid. I didn't wrap the legs in the casserole in parchment paper. The ones in the parchment paper definitely had a better texture. The legs cooked in the casserole were dryer and more stringy. If I use the casserole method again, I will drop the cooking time to around an hour. I followed the suggestion in one of the reviews and removed the skin and trimmed off as much of the fat as possible. For side dishes, I recommend fried plantains (there is a recipe on this site; there are also many to be found by Googling). I would also suggest something crunchy like pepper slaw or a fruit salad with lots of apples or jicama to provide a different taste and texture and something cooler. I have leftover sauce and will try it on pork spareribs using the same cooking method. The leftovers from this would make a good filling for tamales, enchiladas.

• Johnzie

• Boston, MA

• 5/11/2008