Adobong Mani

This is best paired with a tall glass of Coke with lots of ice. Yum! One of the favourite snacks of Pinoys is this deep-fried peanut aka adobong mani. Why it's called adobo, with nary a sight of vinegar nor soy sauce, I do not know. I just go with the flow or rather the flavour and do not attempt to explain things away.

I used to watch my more enterprising younger sister make this when she was still in elementary school. She then proceeds to package it into small plastic bags and sell it via a corner store. Me and the rest of our siblings? We gamely volunteered to pack it for her with the eye of course of sneaking every other spoonful in our mouths. You can probably guess that my sister's business didn't exactly flourish. Hahaha.

The thing with deep frying the peanuts is once it reaches the cooked stage it can very quickly burn in a matter of seconds. So it is imperative to immediately remove all of the peanuts from the deep fryer once you think it's cooked otherwise you will have a mix of crunchy well cooked ones and some burned ones. Not nice at all.

My sister did not have any deep fryer thermometer nor use a timer when she was cooking this. All she had for indicator was the garlic - if it turned to golden crispy and the peanuts are of the right colour then it is done. You can use that as a guide although timing it and pre-heating the cooking oil to the right temperature would help a lot from guesswork.

Adobong Mani
Deep Fried Red-Skinned Peanuts

dried red-skinned peanuts
garlic cloves - smashed skin-on
cooking oil
fine salt

1. Pour some cooking oil into a saucepan to reach at least 1/2-inch up the side. Heat until it reaches 180°C/350°F in temperature (or if a grain of rice dropped in it pops right back up and starts cooking; or if you stick the end of a wooden spoon or chopstick in it and it starts to bubble up around the wood then it is ready).
2. Deep fry the garlic and peanuts in batches making sure that the peanuts are submerged in oil. Cook for 3 - 4 minutes for peanuts with small kernels and 4 - 5 minutes for big kernels. Alternatively, fry until the whole garlic (not just the edges) turns golden brown and crispy.
3. Set a metal sieve or strainer on a deep bowl big enough to fit all the oil in your saucepan. Once the peanuts are cooked, carefully pour the whole lot in the strainer making sure that the bowl will catch the hot oil. Drain and transfer to a serving bowl. Add fine salt to taste.
4. Pour back the oil in the saucepan, re-heat to 180°C, and repeat for the next batch.