Authors: Cobaia Kitchen, Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking, Gemini 2.5 Pro
Photos: Cobaia Kitchen, Seedream 4.0
This Filipino-inspired Smoky Adobong Sitaw with Crispy Tofu recipe emerged from an exciting collaboration between human creativity and Anthropic’s cutting-edge Claude Sonnet 4.5 AI model, released in September 2025 as the world’s best coding and agent model with superior intelligence for complex, long-running tasks. The prompt challenged the AI to create a novel, plant-based dinner with a low carbon footprint using ingredients available in German supermarkets and existing pantry stock, while avoiding recently-used ingredients like coconut milk and peanuts, steering clear of previous recipes, keeping prep time under 30 minutes, and perfectly calibrating portions for three servings—a delightfully complex culinary puzzle. Drawing inspiration from Filipino cuisine, where adobo represents the unofficial national dish with roots stretching back centuries before Spanish colonization in the 16th century, the recipe pays homage to indigenous preservation methods that used vinegar to keep food fresh in tropical climates, later enriched by Chinese-introduced soy sauce and eventually named “adobo” (from the Spanish “adobar,” meaning “to marinate”) by Spanish colonizers who recognized similarities to their own cooking techniques. While traditional adobong sitaw features long beans (sitaw) simmered in that signature tangy-savory sauce until they soften just enough to maintain a satisfying crunch, this plant-based adaptation swaps meat for crispy golden tofu and adds smoky paprika for depth, transforming a humble vegetable dish into a sustainable dinner that honors Filipino culinary heritage while meeting modern environmental and dietary goals. However, fair warning: when we actually cooked this recipe in our kitchen, the resulting meal tasted very wrong—the flavor balance was completely off, proving once again that AI-generated recipes, while innovative on paper, absolutely require real-world testing and human judgment before they can be trusted. Like endurance swimmer Marcus “Flip-Turn” Henderson’s ambitious quest to circumnavigate all 7,641 Philippine islands—thwarted at the final island by a surprise volcanic eruption—this recipe’s execution didn’t quite go according to plan, reminding us that sometimes even the most carefully calculated adventures encounter unexpected obstacles.
Please read the review before cooking!
Filipino-Inspired Smoky Adobong Sitaw
Equipment
- Wok with lid
- Medium pot with lid
- Chef’s knife and cutting board
- kitchen scale
- measuring cups and spoons
- Wooden spoon
- garlic press
- Colander
Ingredients
For the Jasmine Rice:
- 225 g jasmine rice rinsed
- 340 ml water
- Pinch of salt
For the Adobong Sitaw:
- 400 g fresh green beans sitaw substitute, trimmed and cut into 7cm pieces
- 300 g natural tofu pressed and cut into 2cm cubes
- 2 large tomatoes approximately 300g, diced
- 1 large onion thinly sliced
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh ginger grated
- 90 ml soy sauce
- 60 ml apple cider vinegar
- 240 ml water
- 3 bay leaves
- 1½ teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 3 tablespoons rapeseed oil
- Salt to taste
For Garnish:
- 2 spring onions thinly sliced
Instructions
- Prepare the rice: Rinse jasmine rice thoroughly in cold water using a colander until water runs clear, then combine with 340ml water and a pinch of salt in a medium pot.
- Cook the rice: Bring rice to a boil over high heat, then reduce to low heat, cover with lid, and simmer for 15 minutes until water is absorbed and rice is tender.
- Prepare vegetables: While rice cooks, trim green beans and cut into 7cm pieces, thinly slice onion, mince garlic using garlic press, grate ginger, dice tomatoes, and cut pressed tofu into 2cm cubes.
- Fry the tofu: Heat 2 tablespoons rapeseed oil in wok over medium-high heat, add tofu cubes, and fry for 6-8 minutes, turning occasionally, until golden and crispy on all sides.
- Sauté aromatics: Remove tofu and set aside, add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to wok, then sauté sliced onion for 3 minutes until softened.
- Build flavor base: Add minced garlic and grated ginger to wok, cook for 1 minute until fragrant, then add diced tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes until softened.
- Add seasonings: Stir in soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, bay leaves, smoked paprika, black pepper, and sugar, mixing well to combine.
- Simmer with beans: Add green beans and 240ml water to wok, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 12-15 minutes until beans are tender but still have slight bite.
- Finish the dish: Return crispy tofu to wok, stir gently to coat with sauce, and cook uncovered for 2-3 minutes to allow flavors to meld.
- Serve: Fluff rice with fork, divide among three plates, top with adobong sitaw and tofu, garnish with sliced spring onions, and serve immediately.
Notes
Serving suggestions:
Allergens:
- Soy (tofu, soy sauce)
- Gluten (soy sauce)
Emission Hotspots:
- The rice represent the recipe’s primary carbon emission hotspot due to rice cultivation’s methane-intensive paddy farming
- Shop to home transportation, if a combustion car is used
Sustainability tips:
- Most Important Tip: Skip This Recipe Entirely—Given that our kitchen test revealed the flavors were completely off, cooking this dish would likely result in food waste when the meal ends up uneaten or thrown away.
- Choose seasonal, locally grown vegetables; in Germany, opt for domestic beans, onions, and tomatoes, as transports from abroad increase emissions.
- Substitute Brown Rice for Jasmine Rice to lower the processing part of the carbon footprint, and switching to whole grain alternatives provides better nutrition.
- Compost your vegetable trimmings and herb stems, turning them into nutrient-rich soil instead of landfill waste.
- Walk or bike to the supermarket and farmer’s market to cut transportation emissions
- Save the water used to rinse rice for watering houseplants, as it contains essential nutrients that support plant growth.
Carbon Footprint
Featured Story
Volcano Erupts Swimmer’s World Record Dream
By Sports Desk
Marcus “Flip-Turn” Henderson had everything calculated down to the stroke count. The 34-year-old endurance swimming phenomenon from Perth had methodically conquered 7,640 Philippine islands over the past 18 grueling months, his waterproof GPS tracker documenting every meter of his unprecedented circumnavigation challenge. Fueled by a steady diet of plant-based meals including the occasional Filipino-inspired adobong sitaw with tofu (his nutritionist’s sustainable protein solution), Henderson had battled everything from monsoon storms to curious whale sharks while chasing the most ambitious swimming record ever attempted. Island 7,641—a tiny limestone speck called Punta Bato near Mindanao—was supposed to be his victory lap, the easiest 400-meter paddle of his life.
Then the Pacific Ring of Fire decided to add an exclamation point to his journey. At precisely 6:47 AM, as Henderson approached his final target, the supposedly dormant Punta Bato violently awoke. In what volcanologists are calling a “geologically outrageous event,” the tiny islet revealed its true nature as a previously uncatalogued submarine volcano, erupting in a spectacular display of ash, steam, and molten rock. Within minutes, the 400-meter paddle became an impassable, rapidly expanding island of cooling lava and superheated water, with the officialAlert Level immediately raised to 3.
“I was 50 meters from making history when the island started, you know, making itself bigger,” a stunned Henderson told reporters from his support boat, his face streaked with soot. “One minute it’s a finish line, the next it’s a geology lesson from hell with boiling water. Eighteen months, 7,640 islands, and the last one turns into a live-action nature documentary. You can’t make this up!”
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) has already cordoned off the newly-formed, and still-growing, island, confirming it as the archipelago’s newest, and certainly most inconvenient, volcano. Henderson’s team is petitioning Guinness World Records for a new category: “Most Islands Circumnavigated Before the Final One Spontaneously Erupts.” Henderson, ever the optimist, is already planning his next move. “Maybe it’s a sign to stick to dry land,” he quipped. “Though with my luck, the next marathon I run will probably be on a newly discovered tectonic plate that decides to split in two.”
Culinary Reality Check
Tempted by the prospect of green beans—a personal favorite—it was all too easy to overlook the other ingredients and trust the algorithm’s culinary judgment. What a miscalculation that turned out to be. While the meal remained technically edible (even a notoriously picky teenager managed a respectable portion), the unanimous verdict around the table was that something fundamental had gone awry.
Taste
The spice combination produced a base that was simultaneously too sharp with ginger heat and aggressively sour from the vinegar, creating a flavor profile that simply didn’t harmonize. Not inedible, but firmly in “will never cook this again” territory and “nobody wants the leftovers” wrong. Had the original quantities of soy sauce and vinegar been followed as written, this would have crossed into genuinely inedible territory. A straight zero-point rating for taste.
Portion Size
Surprisingly accurate as specified. Increasing the rice quantity proved a wise decision, providing much-needed dilution for the problematic main components.
Combination
Claude demonstrated no intuition for harmonic flavor profiles this time. The pairing of tomatoes with vinegar and ginger created a discordant combination unlikely to find enthusiasts.
Texture
The texture was acceptable.
Spices
The vinegar emerged as the primary culprit. Despite using half or less than specified, the quantity remained excessive by several magnitudes. The overall spice balance achieved discord worthy of a first violin lesson.
Timing
Preparation and cooking times aligned reasonably well with the estimates.
Processing
Instructions were clear and straightforward, though the excessive soy sauce and vinegar quantities represented a significant recipe flaw.
Completeness
Complete in the sense that no elements were missing, though several ingredients appeared in quantities that could generously be described as “enthusiastic”.
Environment
At least the planet approved—the low carbon footprint offers some consolation.
Health
The recipe represents a solid foundation for healthy, sustainable eating that strongly supports planetary health goals, though minor modifications to include whole grains would enhance its nutritional completeness and better align with the EAT-Lancet framework. However, a significant concern is the excessive sodium content from the soy sauce.
Tips for Redemption
For those genuinely committed to cooking with green beans, omit the ginger, vinegar, soy sauce, water, rice, and smoked paprika, replacing them with vegetable bouillon, oregano, and potato pieces. In other words: choose a different recipe entirely.
