Thigh at 90 degrees: Chicken adobo

Boneless and skinless is convenient, but bone-in skin-on cooks juicier and costs less per kilo. Dark meat forgives heat; prefer even colour and intact skin over any marketing grade. A standing muscle, built from slow-twitch fibre packed with myoglobin and fat. That gives it far more flavour than the breast and a much wider margin for error — it stays juicy well past the safe temperature, which is why almost every braise, curry and grill recipe quietly prefers it.

Colour, sinew, where the fat sits, and thickness are what you check before you pay. Ask for the thickness that matches “Chicken adobo.” Use 90 degrees and 90 when you cook. Salt after you know the job. Do not play with undercooked meat. Cook Thigh to 90 degrees and serve it as “Chicken adobo.” The other figure to watch is 90. Do not time a hard-working muscle like a thin steak. Colour before heat is not doneness. Take thighs higher than breast on purpose. Connective tissue softens in the high seventies and the meat only gets better.

Cook Thigh to 90 degrees and serve it as “Chicken adobo.” The other figure to watch is 90. Do not time a hard-working muscle like a thin steak. Colour before heat is not doneness. Take thighs higher than breast on purpose. Connective tissue softens in the high seventies and the meat only gets better.