‘Use the right amount, not the white amount’
International chefs, beware and do not mess with Asian cooking as Uncle Roger will not be kind. After criticizing chef Hersha Patel for her “crimes against rice,” Uncle Roger is hating how Food Network’s “The Kitchen” tries to recreate the Filipino dish adobo.
Leading the “cooking” of the adobo is American chef Geoffrey Zakarian, which Uncle Roger fondly calls “nephew suit guy.” Among the things that were flagged by Uncle Roger were chef Geoffrey’s use of low sodium soy sauce, minimal use of garlic, the inclusion of habanero, and the addition of parsley and lemon.
While adobo varied depending on the ingredients you make and the people cooking the dish, we have to admit there are some basic steps and key ingredients that make an adobo. In 2021, a concern in the Filipino food scene arise as the Department of Trade and Industry – Bureau of Philippine Standards aimed to standardize well-known Filipino dishes like adobo, sinigang, sisig, lechon, which got mixed reactions among foodies and food experts.
According to Filipino food historian Felice Prudente Sta. Maria, adobo is made with ingredients such as anatto, soy sauce, turmeric, bay leaf, and black peppercorns, with vinegar as its main component. Through the years we’re seen it transformed as home cooks from different parts of the country use their province’s top produce to make their adobo dish truly their own. As Manila Bulletin Lifestyle’s food columnist Sol Vanzi said, Legislating recipes would stifle a cook’s freedom of expression.”
But for what it is worth, Uncle Roger got it right when he said to “use the right amount, not the white amount,” in cooking the adobo.
Uncle Roger is a character created by London-based Malaysian comedian Nigel Ng. Watch his reaction to chef Geoffrey’s adobo below:
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