I grew up in a Dominican household cooking Dominican food,
which means that store-bought Adobo was a staple in our pantry. I recently
looked at the ingredients label on a bottle of Adobo and here is the list:
Salt, Granulated
Garlic, Tricalcium Phosphate (Prevents Caking), Oregano, Black Pepper, Turmeric.
The only foreign element here is Tricalcium
Phosphate, which is chemically a type of salt derived from natural and
inorganic elements like rock. While I don’t believe it’s poison, I’m not a biochemist
and I don’t know what the effects on my body would be like my adrenals or my
thyroid. If it’s not found in any one food as it is, I feel it’s best to leave
it alone. Ignorance is not always bliss, so I’d rather not put something in my
mouth that I’m ignorant of. Wow, someone could take that so many ways!
Anywho… I wasn’t impressed with the other ingredients
either. Salt is the first ingredient which means it’s very high in sodium and
the flavor isn’t really coming from the other elements as much as it’s coming
from the salt. Secondly, tumeric isn’t even a traditional Caribbean spice – it’s
native to southwest India!
Here are the
ingredients for my DOMINICAN version of Adobo:
- 4 teaspoons garlic powder
- 4 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
- 2 teaspoons lemon pepper (I like using one from Penzeys Spices since it’s all natural)
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground annatto seeds (achiote powder)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
Directions:
Mix all of the ingredients well together and store in a
tight, air-proof container. To season meat with it, wash the meat in lime juice
or apple cider vinegar, pat dry and add equal parts adobo and garlic powder to
it. Add sea salt to taste, keeping in mind that you need it to bring out the
flavors, but there is also already some salt in the lemon pepper that’s in the
adobo.
If you’re seasoning
and working with a new type of salt that you’ve never used before, it’s best to
go light on it. You can always add more salt later, but you can’t rescue an
over-salted dish… yek!
Whatever you make, I’m sure it’ll be delicious. Happy
cooking!
