The top 14 entries were chosen based on several criteria, including:

• Creativity of Concept: This evaluates the story behind the dish, as well as its originality, branding, and cooking technique.
• Innovation: This considers the use of unique special ingredients, particularly Datu Puti products.
• Philippine Culinary Heritage: This includes how the entries adopt and represent various regional cooking styles.

This venue caters to both comfort food cravings and fresh culinary discoveries, all prepared by emerging food entrepreneurs. During the Datu Puti Adobo Challenge, several selected vendors from Mercato added their unique takes on Adobo to their usual offerings, delighting food enthusiasts with exciting renditions of this beloved national dish.

Here are the recipes from the vendors. Keep in mind that our home versions may not taste the same since we won’t use their exact methods. To truly enjoy these dishes, we should go to Mercato Centrale. 🙂

DISH NAME: Pugon-smoked Pork Adobo

DESCRIPTION: Pork shoulder pugon-smoked for 8 hours, glazed with a rich Cebu-style adobo sauce and garnished with fresh green mango (manggang hilaw).

Inspired by Cebu’s method of cooking lechon, The Oinkery roasts their pork meat inside a traditional pugon giving it that distinct smoky taste. Matthew combines the finished product with his sister’s Cebu-style adobo sauce and garnishes it with fresh green mangoes on the side. Having been slow-cooked for a total of eight hours, the meat is guaranteed to be soft and juicy with every bite.

I found their adobo flavorful and I loved how the meat was so tender that it falls off the fork.  The mango was a perfect pairing for this dish.  If it were not served with the adobo I would have ordered a green mango shake from one of the other vendors. 

Here is the recipe for Oinkery’s Pugon-Roasted Pork Adobo.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg. pork shoulder
• handful seasoning spices (salt, pepper, paprika, etc.)
• 30 ml. cooking oil
• 4 cloves garlic
• 200 ml. Datu Puti soy sauce
• 100 gms. brown sugar
• 200 ml. Datu Puti vinegar
• 2 pcs. bay leaf
• black peppercorns
• 1 pc. Indian mango

Procedure:

1. Pre-heat oven to 230-250F.
2. Season meat with seasoning spices. (Optional: Let stand to marinate for at least 30 minutes to an hour.)
3. Roast meat in the oven for 8 hours or until fork-tender.
4. Saute garlic cloves in cooking oil.
5. Combine Datu Puti soy sauce and brown sugar in the cooking pan and wait for the sauce to boil.
6. Add the Datu Puti vinegar and wait for the sauce to boil.
7. After boiling place the cooked meat along with the bay leaf and peppercorns.
8. Simmer.
9. Serve with steaming hot rice and garnish with strips of Indian Mango.

Second place: Dayrit’s

Dayrit’s Pork Adobong Laing Pinangat won 2nd place in the Datu Puti Adobo Challenge.

DESCRIPTION: Two Filipino favorites, Adobo and Laing, in one unique and flavorful dish.

Pork Adobong Laing Pinangat – that’s two of the famous Filipino favorites, adobo and laing, combined in one extraordinary dish. Dayrit’s 40 years of experience in creating sumptuous heritage home-cooked meals is very evident with their entry for The Adobo Challenge 2016.   According to Chef Miguel Dayrit, their version of the classic adobo recipe is different from the rest because it combines the strong flavors of two Pinoy viands to create an outstanding dish. This Bicolandia inspired concoction is a fusion of the creamy, hot and spicy and the sour and salty trademarks of laing and adobo respectively.

This was my excuse to eat something healthy. 😀  I liked it because it was a vegetable dish and had an adobo taste.

Here is the recipe for Dayrit’s Pork Adobong Laing Pinangat.

Ingredients:

• 2 kgs. pork kasim, cubed
• 50 gms. garlic
• 2 c. Datu Puti soy sauce
• 2 c. Datu Puti vinegar
• 2 tbsps. Datu Puti patis
• 10 gms. whole pepper
• 2 pcs. laurel leaves
• whole gabi leaves
• gabi leaves, shredded
• 500 ml. kakang gata
• 5 pcs. diced siling labuyo
• thyme (used for wrapping)

Procedure:

1. Heat the saucepot.  Put in the garlic, pork kasim, Datu Puti soy sauce, Datu Puti vinegar, and Datu Puti patis.
2. Simmer until pork is tender, set aside.
3. In another sauce pot put the kakang gata over a low fire, stir. Be careful not to make the gata too thick.
4. Pour in the Datu Puti soy sauce and Datu Puti vinegar and stir until it boils.  Set aside.
5. Place the pork adobo at the center of the whole gabi leaves.  Put a little sauce and the gabi on top and the kakang gata.  Wrap, using the thyme to secure the wrap.
6. In a separate saucepot put the mixed gata sauce with the wrapped adobo laing.  Let it boil for 25 minutes, reduce the heat until the sauce thickens.
7. Take off the thyme used for wrapping.  Serve.

Personally, this seems too much work.  I’ll just order it from Dayrit’s. 😀

Third place: Bakmi Nyonya

Bakmi Nyonya’s classic Filipino adobo infused with Indonesian spices and served with Sambal wowed the judges and won 3rd place at the Datu Puti Adobo Challenge.

DESCRIPTION: Classic Filipino adobo infused with Indonesian spices. Served with Sambal.

Lucy of Bakmi Nyonya, one of the well-known food vendors in Mercato Centrale, reinvents the Pinoy classic adobo and incorporates her Indonesian-style of cooking to come up with a unique entry to the Adobo Challenge 2016. This delicate pork adobo treat is mixed with secret Indonesian spices, cooked in soy sauce and vinegar, and served with the classic sambal.

I’ve always enjoyed spicy food and growing up there was this restaurant not too far from my house called Rasa Singapura where we got our stash of sambal sauce.  When I had the opportunity to taste this adobo dish by Bakmi Nyonya they immediately got my vote.

Here is the recipe of Bakmi Nyonya’s Babi Kecap Adobo Nyonya.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg. liempo with ribs
• 1 c. Datu Puti vinegar
• 1/4 c. Kecap Manis
• 1/4 c. Datu Puti soy sauce
• 3 tbsps. Datu Puti fish sauce (patis)
• 5 pcs. shallot
• 5 cloves garlic
• pepper to taste
• wine to taste
• lesser galangal
• 100 gms. Earwood mushroom
• palm sugar

Procedure:

1. Fry pork.  Add shallots and garlic.
2. Saute until golden brown.
3. Add all ingredients, simmer.
4. Add a moderate amount, simmer.
5. Cook in low heat for 3 hours.

People’s Choice Award: Lariza’s

Lariza’s Seafood Adobo

DESCRIPTION: A mix of crab, shrimp, and mussels cooked adobo style and topped with cheese.

Lariza’s, another well-known food vendor in Mercato Centrale shares their expertise in creating a unique dish for the Adobo Challenge 2016. Their very own “Seafood Adobo” is a mixture of mussels, prawns, and crabs stirred in a mixture of vinegar and soy sauce, garlic, onion, pepper, and finished off with cheese on top to add a creamy, tangy taste. Tess Gonzales, the proud owner of Lariza’s knew that her opponents would stick to the usual pork or chicken adobo, so she decided to come up with something edgy. With her “Seafood Adobo”, she hopes to motivate Filipinos to be more daring and “adobofy” fresh catch from the sea as an alternative to the usual adobo recipes.

This was not among my favorites.  I didn’t hate it, though.  It was just ok. But, to be fair, part of my issue was allergies so I have to be careful when eating seafood.  If not for that I may have enjoyed it more.

My personal favorite

Sadly, my personal favorite didn’t make it.  Maybe most people found it too different?  It is very different and not really easy to make but definitely very delicious!  Curious about it? Here is the recipe for your enjoyment.

Adobo Consomme with Duck Dumpling

Ingredients:

Adobo Consomme

• veal bones
• pork knuckles and bones
• duck bones
• carrots, celery, leeks, onions, garlic, bay leaf, peppercorns
• Datu Puti soy sauce
• Datu Puti vinegar
• egg white
• bouquet garni (parsley, peppercorns, sage, and bay leaf)

Duck Dumpling

• native duck adobo cooked with Datu Puti soy sauce and cane vinegar
• carrots
• garlic
• shitake mushroom
• flour
• breadcrumbs
• egg
• salt
• warm water

Procedure:

For the consomme

1. Saute onions and garlic until brown and translucent.
2. Add peppercorns and bay leaf.
3. Drop the veal, pork, and duck bones and cook until browned making a nice caramelization on your pot surface.
4. Add your Datu Puti soy sauce and vinegar and let it simmer.
5. Add carrots, celery, leeks, and diced onions.
6. Whip egg whites and add.
7. Add warm stock and let it simmer for 2 hours then strain.

For the dumpling

1. Combine salt, flour, and hot water and mix until you form a dough and let it rest for 30 minutes.
2. Roll into thin discs and set aside.
3. Saute garlic and shitake mushrooms.  Add Datu Puti soy sauce and vinegar and then simmer.
4. Add duck adobo.
5. Remove from heat.  Let it cool and then add carrots, breadcrumbs, flour, and egg.

Datu Puti products

All Adobo winners were awarded start-up funds in cash, so they could include their winning dishes in the regular Mercato menu. The People’s Choice awardee also received P3,000 worth of Datu Puti goods.With these latest initiatives and the warm response of urban foodies, the Datu Puti Adobo Movement has definitely made strides in rallying more people behind the nation’s ulam of choice.Interested parties may still support the Datu Puti Adobo Movement by signing the petition at www.adobomovement.com.