In just one sitting, Candice Anne “Chippy” Banzon-Hermoso can serve not one or two, but four delightful adobo dishes, each having its distinct taste, aroma and feel.

Hermoso grew up in Balanga, Bataan, enjoying her mom’s (Mila Banzon) celebrated crab adobo cooked in calamansi juice, fish sauce, aligue (crab fats) and tons of garlic. This inspired her to experiment with own adobo versions that were a hit among family and friends.

Her Lemon Chicken Adobo is a unique, classy flavor combining the creaminess of cheese, the tartness of lemon and the saltiness of olives.

The result is a rich, creamy chicken adobo that almost melts in the mouth. The cheese, lemon, olives, potatoes and garlic cut nicely into the tender meat with contrasting flavors.

“To fuse all flavors, I bake it for few minutes,” Hermoso says. Just before plating, she tops it off with quickmelt cheese.

There’s no special technique in preparing this. She starts by sautéing onions and garlic, adds chicken then lemon, salt and liquid seasoning.

She prefers to use lemon which has a nicer, heady aroma than calamansi. Potatoes and olives add texture.

“If you want a more intense lemon flavor, leave the lemon peel on the dish when you bake it. It gives the sauce a more tangy taste,” says 36-year-old Hermoso.

Adobo in coconut milk

Growing up with her mom’s Bicolano cooking, Hermoso loves adobo bathed in coconut milk (gata) and finished off with siling labuyo bits.

Adobo sa gata has been a staple in family get-togethers. One of Hermoso’s sought-after dishes is the Adobong Pabo sa Gata, or turkey cooked in coconut milk but without its gamey aftertaste.

“It’s a slow-cooking adobo,” says Hermoso. “But if you’re pressed for time, cooking the meat in a pressure cooker will also do justice.”

To remove the gamey aftertaste, Hermoso boils the meat with tanglad (lemongrass) for 30 minutes in the pressure cooker. She adds soy sauce, black pepper, vinegar and seasoning. She then fries the meat to lock in the flavor.

On a separate pan, she sautés onion, ginger and garlic. She puts in the fried turkey, siling sigang and coconut milk.

“It’s like cooking the meat first in adobo sauce and frying it afterward to seal in the goodness,” says Hermoso.

Another adobo dish with coconut milk is shrimp adobo, a simpler version of Hermoso’s mom’s crab adobo. Instead of using calamansi, local vinegar is preferred.

The shrimp is cooked in garlic, vinegar, salt and coconut milk. Sometimes, she adds crab fat to thicken the sauce and create an extra-luscious taste.

“So as not to overcook the shrimp, we fish it out from the pan once it turns pink and let the sauce simmer for few more minutes over low flame till the natural oil from the gata comes out,” Hermoso says.

Finally, there’s her crispy adobo flakes that never fails to tickle the taste buds because of its crunchy, crispy and flaky toasted pork meat over a mound of rice mixed with salty-sour adobo sauce.

“It’s a bit tedious to prepare, cooking the meat twice and shredding it,” Hermoso says. “But the nice thing about it, the meat has already absorbed all the seasonings even before frying it. It’s very flavorful.”

Culinary background

Hermoso has a Bachelor of Science degree in Tourism from the University of the Philippines, and then attended the Center for Asian Culinary Studies.

The Banzon family runs a hotel (Crown Royale Hotel), a resort (La Vista Inland Resort) and a Chinese restaurant (Fortune Hong Kong Seafood Restaurant) in Bataan. Hermoso was tasked to head the food and beverage department.

“The family was discussing that someone had to take up culinary [arts] because we were offering functions and banquets,” explains Hermoso. “They asked me what I wanted to do and I said I love to eat, so they gave me the F&B assignment.”

She believes that “if you really love to eat, you will eventually develop interest in cooking. It’s hard to cook if you don’t have innate passion for eating good food.”