Laguna Afritada

"Bill Gates is a very rich man today... and do you want to know why? The answer is one word: versions." ~Dave Barry

There are 2 versions of Filipino afritada, the white and the red. I'm more familiar with the red afritada which uses tomato sauce. Laguna afritada is a white version, it uses fresh tomatoes. I found the recipe from Food Magazine when I'm making my weekly menu list. I was so intrigued with the recipe because it uses leftover white adobo (adobo with no soy sauce). It's new to me, so I gave it a try. I must say, this recipe rocks! I'm so in love with it, the fresh tomatoes give the dish a mild wonderful flavor while the chicken is so savory. It has the right balance of flavors which is so hooking that you want to eat more. If you're on a diet, don't ever try this (just kidding). I will definitely cook this again. Give it a try too!

INGREDIENTS:
(adapted from Food Magazine)
1 whole chicken, at least 1.5 kg or use leftover white adobo*
1 Tbsp cooking oil
half a head of native garlic, crushed
2 medium tomatoes, cubed
1 medium onion, sliced
1 tsp patis (fish sauce)
peppercorns
2 potatoes, quartered or cut into small wedges and fried
1 carrot, quartered or cut into chunks
2 tsp evaporated milk
2 bell peppers (green/red), deseeded then cut into strips or quartered

PROCEDURE:
*1. If using fresh chicken, clean and cut the chicken into serving pieces and marinate overnight in 1/3 cup vinegar, 3 cloves of garlic (crushed), 2 dried bay leaves or laurel, and salt. Put it in a pot or pan then add 1/4 cup water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce the heat into low-medium and simmer for 30 minutes or until the meat is tender. 
2. Drain adobo, but reserve the liquid. Remove the bay leaves and garlic.
3. In a pot, heat oil then saute the garlic, tomatoes, and onion.
4. Add the chicken, carrot, patis, and peppercorns. Cover to seal flavors.
5. Pour in the reserved adobo liquid and let it boil.
6. Add the potatoes, then the milk.
7. Let it simmer then add the bell peppers.
8. Cook for about 2 minutes more.
9. Serve with rice. Share and enjoy!

Serving: Makes 4 (500 ml) container

QUICK NOTES:
1. You may also use pork instead of chicken.
2. Since the dish has milk, refrigerate if it will not be served immediately.
3.  You may omit the carrot if you don't like it. It's not included on the original recipe, I just want to have it on my afritada.
4. Add chilies for spicier version.

Happy day always,

Rhea