A Malaysian comedian-turned-critic weighed in on an American food channel’s version of the traditional Filipino adobo.
Nigel Ng, better known as Uncle Roger, was displeased with how American chef Geoffrey Zakarian cooks adobo in an old cooking video.
This video titled “Geoffrey Zakarian Makes Filipino Adobo Chicken” was uploaded via the Food Network’s YouTube channel on April 22, 2019.
The recipe for Zakarian’s adobo was also provided in the caption.
Food Network is a US-based television channel that carries shows about food and lifestyle.
Uncle Roger then released his reaction to this cooking video via his channel on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2022.
His reaction video’s title “Uncle Roger HATE FOOD NETWORK ADOBO” fits his overall dismay and criticism about the American television personality’s recipe for the Asian dish.
While adobo can have many variations, the American chef specified in the video that he will be making the “traditional” one.
“I’ll be making a traditional dish of Filipino adobo,” Zakarian told his viewers.
Throughout the process, however, he took liberties with the recipe that Filipinos and adobo fans would find unconventional.
These include the addition of habanero, parsley, lemon and too much water.
Uncle Roger also noted Zakarian’s use of low-sodium soy sauce instead of the regular one, and the meager amount of bay leaves and garlic.
“Spending money on a saucepan, spending money on expensive suit… but the ingredients for adobo wrong. Why don’t you spend money on Filipino cookbook instead?” the vlogger said on the chef’s cooking.
Uncle Roger’s video has since garnered more than 800,000 views so far.
In the comments section, several users agreed with his remarks on Zakarian’s style of cooking adobo.
“As a Filipino, I love how Uncle Roger is doing us justice. Adobo is a classic Pinoy dish and watching these people make it breaks my heart,” one user said.
“I agree with all of Uncle Roger’s comments. I can’t believe that an uncomplicated dish like Adobo turns complicated. You don’t even need to marinate it at all,” another user said.
Other users also pointed out that Zakarian can have his own style but he shouldn’t pass it off as “traditional.”
“I can accept this as his personal style of adobo, like he first saw some real Filipino adobo, enjoyed it, but felt he could add his own spin on it. As a cook, I do that all the time, but he’s passing his own spin-off as the traditional Filipino dish adobo, and that’s not right,” one user pointed out.
Adobo has been an age-old staple of Filipino cuisine that is well-loved for its simple recipe that can easily be modified and savory sauce.
Its commonly made with pork, beef and chicken. Moreover, it is traditionally partnered with plain rice.
