Carmen Segovia believes that in cooking adobo, one should rely on one’s taste rather than follow the exact recipe or the “right” amount of seasoning dictated by cookbooks.
For her, cooking the best adobo is often “tantiyahan” or free estimate or measure, and one’s palate is the deciding factor.
Her beef adobo and chicken-pork adobo are perfect examples of such cooking. If she wants to balance or lessen the saltiness and acidity of the sauce, she adds white sugar. If she wants intense flavor, she reduces the sauce; if she likes it extra special and quite filling, she adds banana.
Segovia’s adobo is usually simmered for a long period to guarantee tender meat—three hours or more for beef—in low fire. It yields a more pronounced, sharp and heady garlicky taste.
For beef adobo, she first sautés the beef in browned garlic before throwing in all the ingredients in a pot for fuller and rounded flavor.
For the chicken-pork adobo, she cooks the pork before adding the chicken. The pork cooks longer than chicken.
Sometimes, she separates the meat from the sauce and reduces the sauce to create a thinner, caramelized sauce. The meat is then browned in oil before adding it back to the mixture.
She serves her adobo with guinisang monggo and paksiw bangus belly.
Cooking and baking
As young as seven years old, Segovia was already dabbling in cooking. She didn’t go into formal training.
“I remember I just love to be in the kitchen all the time,” says Segovia. “That’s my playground.”
She started with pancakes, then moved on to Spanish croquettes. In time, her family was enjoying her lasagna, cannelloni (using beef brain), etc.
Baking also came naturally to Segovia. In high school, she was known for fruitcakes and apple pies. In college, she was getting orders for cheesecake, food for the gods, pineapple upside down, pound cake and custard cake.
“I was in Grade 3 when I started baking,” says Segovia. “It wasn’t unusual because all my cousins and aunts in San Juan were into baking and cooking. I thought everybody was into it.”
As early as Grade 3 she turned entrepreneur. She’d sell halo-halo in front of the family house. Then, she started accepting orders for lumpiang ubod and beef lasagna.
Segovia learned to cook by simply watching culinary icon Nora Daza on television and by reading cookbooks.
She took up Nutrition and Dietetics at the College of Holy Spirit. Although she didn’t practice that profession, the education came in handy when she put up a catering business in 1991. It helped her with the food preservation, spoilage, chemical combination of ingredients and nutritional benefits, among others.
“After I graduated I ventured into catering,” recalls. Segovia. “My father built me a nice kitchen where I could do all my cooking and baking. My dream then was to become the next Goldilocks bakeshop.”
After many years she got tired of the catering business so she focused on baking with the help of her daughter Jacqueline Segovia-Saulog.
People flock to Segovia’s Cakes and Recipes bakeshop in San Juan to enjoy her special mamon, which made it to Inquirer Lifestyle Best Desserts for 2019, ensaymada, cheeseroll, Spanish bread and many more.
Beef Adobo
2 k beef short ribs
1 tbsp Kosher Salt
1 c vinegar
¾ c soy sauce
1 tsp. peppercorn
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, quartered
3 bay leaf
¼ c cooking oil
¼ c white sugar
2 c water
banana saba (optional)
Add salt to beef short ribs. Fry until slightly brown. Saute onion, garlic and bay leaf in oil. Add beef cubes. Then add vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, peppercorn, water and banana. Cook for 2 to 2 ½ hours until tender.
Chicken-Pork Adobo
1 k pork liempo, cubed
½ k chicken, cut up
3/4 c vinegar
¾ c Soy Sauce
1 tsp peppercorn
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, quartered
3 bay leaf
¼ c cooking Oil
2 tbsp white sugar
½ c water
Saute onion, garlic and bay leaf in oil. Add pork cubes and saute again for 5 minutes. Add vinegar, soy sauce, peppercorn and water. Cook for 40 mins in very low flame. Add chicken and cook for another 40 mins until tender.
Remove chicken and pork from the sauce. Add sugar in the sauce and continue cooking until liquid is reduced. Pour the reduced sauce on the meat.