Filipino Adobo

Ingredients:
4 lbs beef, chicken or pork
2 C water
1 C shoyu
1/2 C vinegar
2 Tbsp agave nectar
1 finger ginger (about 4-5 inches)
5-6 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp fresh coarsely cracked pepper
Salt & pepper to taste
Extra virgin olive oil or oil of your choice
2 Tbsp flour of your choice

Supplies:
Large pot with lid
Ladle or large spoon
Small bowl

Serves: 4-6

Cut the meat into 1-2 inch cubes. Cut ginger into several pieces (not too small - you want them easy to fish out later) and crush. Crush the garlic as well. Keep count of how many pieces of ginger you cut. In the bottom of the pot heat a small amount of oil. Season the meat with salt and pepper, then sear in the pot on medium high. Add water, vinegar, shoyu, garlic and ginger and bring to high boil. Once boiling, add agave. Reduce to medium and boil for 10 minutes stirring frequently. Add bay leaves and cracked pepper. Reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer slowly until meat is fork tender (about 2 hours for beef, less for chicken and pork). Once finished cooking, reserve meat in a separate bowl and fish out ginger pieces and the bay leaves. Remove all except about 2 cups of the juices (more if you want to make more gravy). In the small bowl, measure out 2 tablespoons of a flour of your choice. Mix with a small amount of cold water until smooth. Add to the reserved juices in the pot and bring to a boil stirring or whisking the bottom continuously. Return meat to pot or pour out gravy into the bowl with the meat.

I hate wasting, but the rest of the juices are so intensely flavored that you can't use it for much else unless you want to eat adobo flavor for a week.

Serve with veggies - I'm partial to steamed broccoli.