Filipino Mother’s Adobo Recipe Enters Japan’s Market

By Florenda Corpuz

TOKYO – Filipino-Japanese actress and model Yu Takahashi grew up eating the adobo her mother, Pen, cooked at home.

It was especially a Saturday tradition for the family. After school, Yu and her siblings could smell the adobo as they approached their home in Shiga Prefecture. 

“After school, when I was coming home, the aroma of adobo had already spread around the neighborhood,” Yu told Filipino-Japanese Journal. “It was the joy of coming home and knowing that my mother was waiting for me. That warmth and happiness is something I remember very clearly from my childhood.”

That family recipe is now being sold in Japan.

Mamita’s Chicken Adobo, made from Pen’s recipe, was launched Aug. 25 at the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo. The ready-to-eat product is sold under the Veronica brand, with the Japanese market as its main target. 

Yu said the memory of her mother cooking adobo was one of the things she wanted to preserve through the product.

“Even now, when I go home, my mother is cooking adobo and waiting for me, and that makes me feel so warm in my heart,” she said.

Pen, 65, came to Japan from Quezon City in 1983 as a dancer. She later married a Japanese man. She and her husband raised four children in Shiga Prefecture and are now based in Kyoto.

Cooking was part of everyday family life, and adobo became a regular meal.

“Every Saturday, adobo, adobo, adobo,” Pen recalled.

She said her children could smell the dish while they were still some distance from home. They would come back from school, sit outside and eat the adobo with their hands.

Pen said the recipe is her own. She has always enjoyed cooking and previously ran a restaurant, where she said Japanese customers enjoyed her Filipino food.

She also makes different versions of Filipino dishes, including pork adobo, and has adjusted her cooking to suit Japanese tastes.

The idea of turning her adobo into a commercial product did not initially appeal to her.

“I didn’t want to,” Pen told Filipino-Japanese Journal.

Yu continued with the project. The recipe was eventually prepared at a food manufacturing facility for commercial production and sanitation requirements.

At the launch, Philippine Ambassador to Japan Mylene Garcia-Albano welcomed media representatives and guests to the embassy. 

“Adobo is widely regarded as the heartbeat of Filipino cuisine,” Garcia-Albano said. “It is a dish whose flavor Filipinos closely associate with home.”

She said the combination of soy sauce, vinegar, garlic and black pepper can bring back memories of family meals and the kitchens of mothers and grandmothers.

Garcia-Albano also noted that the launch comes as the Philippines and Japan mark the 70th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations.

“Food gathering is one of the best ways to celebrate that friendship,” she said.

The envoy described the product as an example of how Filipino and Japanese cultures can come together through food that people can enjoy at home.

Mamita’s Chicken Adobo is sold in two-pouch sets for ¥2,480, including tax. Individual packs are also planned. The initial release consists of 600 servings.

The product is available through the Veronica online store and selected Torokeru Hamburg Fukuyoshi locations.

The name Mamita comes from Pen’s family. Her grandchildren call her “Mamita.”

Pen became emotional during the launch as she watched Yu take part in the presentation.

“I cried,” she said.

Pen is now retired but continues to cook when she receives orders. A Bicolana, she also said laing is one of her specialties.

Yu said she hopes Japanese consumers will like her mother’s adobo.

The recipe that Yu grew up eating is now being offered to people beyond her family, giving Japanese consumers a chance to try the Filipino dish that has been part of the Takahashi family’s table for years.