During the recent shop luncheon, wuffy created a Tostada and some very yummy Nachos using Mexican Chicken Adobo. Wuff found out that there is a Filipino version of this dish as well, but their Adobo is considerably different.

This was a spectacularly flavorful dish! The chicken, when it first came from the pot, was astonishingly mild in flavor. Very bland. But wuff took the sauce from the instant pot and reduced it to about 1 & 1/2 cups while Vrghr was shredding the chicken. Adding half of that back into the shredded meat, along with about 1/3 C of orange juice, created a night-and-day difference.

The chicken was, by far, the star of the luncheon! Fantastic, complex, rich flavors. Very mild heat that even our most "heat sensitive" folks loved. Really a delicious flavor!

Wuff created this using the shop's Instant Pot, so things cook very quickly. It can be done in a slow cooker, or braised in the oven as well.

Wuff is only going to include the chicken pollo recipe here. The rest of the goodies are up to you, and the way you enjoy your nachos or tostada best. *grin*


INGREDIENTS
1 ½-2 lbs Chicken (Vrghr used boneless skinless chicken thighs)
3 dried Guajillo Peppers
1 dried Ancho Pepper
1 Orange
1/4 of an Onion
1 Garlic clove
1/2 Achiote bar
1 Chipotle Pepper in Adobo sauce (canned)
2 tablespoons of the canned Adobo
1/4 cup chopped Cilantro
1 teaspoon Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Cumin
1 teaspoon Oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground Cloves
1 tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tsp Pepper plus more to taste
1 tsp Salt plus more to taste

DIRECTIONS:
Prepare the Adobo Sauce
In a sauce pan, add the Guajillo & Ancho chili peppers. Add the juice and zest from the Orange and the Apple Cider Vinegar. If necessary, add a bit of water until the chilies are just covered. (Vrghr needed another Cup)

Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to a simmer and continue cooking the chilies until they soften (about 5 minutes)

In a blender, add the Onion, Cumin, Cinnamon, Cloves, Oregano, Garlic, Achiote, Chipotle pepper, Brown Sugar, and canned Adobo sauce. Add the chilies and the liquid they cooked in. Blend until smooth

Marinate the Chicken
Place the chicken into a large zip top bag and pour in the blended sauce.

Squeeze out the air and zip closed. Massage to coat all the chicken. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Cook the Chicken
In the instant pot, add 1 C of chicken broth. Add the Cilantro. Add the chicken from the zip bag and all the marinade. Cover and cook at high pressure for 10 minutes

Allow to rest for 10 minutes, then do a quick release. Remove the chicken to a plate with a slotted spoon and pull to shreds

Remove all of the sauce and juice from the instant pot and place in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil over high heat until it is reduced to at least half or less and is fairly thick (coats the back of a spoon)

Return the shredded chicken to instant pot. Add 1/3 C of fresh Orange juice, 1 tsp Salt, 1 tsp Pepper and stir in. Gradually mix in some of the thickened sauce from the small sauce pan, until the chicken is well coated and juicy, but not so runny that it will drip out of the taco shells. Taste, and adjust salt and pepper if needed.

Reserve the remaining sauce for guests to add later, as desired.

Place the chicken in taco shells, on top of nacho chips, or on a tostada. Add desired toppings.

!DEVOUR!