Chicken Arroz Caldo – Filipino Comfort Food
Baby it’s cold outside! The chilly wind brings a shiver to my skin. It’s the perfect time to just snuggle in bed. I woke up late this morning. Times like this all I wanna do is stay in bed and eat something warm, like Arroz Caldo. This dish is on the top of my list of comfort foods!
Arroz Caldo is the Filipino version of Chinese Congee, a rice porridge that was adapted to the taste of Spanish colonial settlers who patronized Chinese restaurants in the Philippines. Thus the Spanish name Arroz Caldo which means rice broth.[spacer height=”20px” id=”2″]
Arroz Caldo is basically a chicken and rice gruel flavored with onions, garlic, ginger, and Patis (Filipino fish sauce). It’s cooked until the rice thickens to a porridge consistency and garnished with safflower, chopped green onions, toasted garlic, hard boiled eggs, and calamansi (also know as calamondin, a small citrus like fruit that is cultivated in the Philippines and South East Asia. It is a hybrid of a member of the genus citrus and Fortunella, in this case most likely mandarin orange and kumquat.)
Here is my version of Arroz Caldo.[spacer height=”20px” id=”2″]
Ingredients:
2 tsp. cooking oil
1 1/2 lbs. bone-in chicken, cut into serving pieces
1 cube chicken bouillon
1 ½ cup uncooked medium grain white rice
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp garlic, crushed
4 1/2 cups water
1 cup onions minced
½ tbsp ground black pepper
2 knobs fresh ginger, juliened
3 tbsp safflower (kasubha)
Toppings:
2 tbls. garlic, minced and toasted
4 hard boiled eggs, sliced in rounds
1 lemon or 4 calamansi, cut in wedges or thinly sliced
1 cup green onion, thinly chopped
Instructions:
In a large pot, heat the cooking oil and saute the garlic, onion, and ginger and ground black pepper
Add the bouillon cube until the cube melts[spacer height=”20px” id=”2″]
Add chicken and cook until outer layer turns golden brown[spacer height=”20px” id=”2″]
Add fish sauce and uncooked rice
Stir and cook for about 3 minutes[spacer height=”20px” id=”2″]
Pour-in the water and bring to a boil
Reduce heat and simmer until the rice is fully cooked stirring occasionally, between 30 to 40 minutes[spacer height=”20px” id=”2″]
Stir in safflower for additional color and aroma[spacer height=”20px” id=”2″]
To make toasted garlic for the topping fry minced garlic in a little oil until it turns dark brown.[spacer height=”20px” id=”2″]
Serve hot garnished with toasted garlic, minced green onions, hard boiled eggs, and lemon/calamansi
You can serve this with a side of Patis that can be added to taste.
Share and Enjoy!
Serving size: 6[spacer height=”20px” id=”2″]
- 2 tsp. Cooking oil
- 1 1/2 lbs. bone-in chicken cut into pieces
- 1 cube chicken bouillon
- 1 1/2 cup uncooked white rice medium grain
- 1 tsp. garlic crushed
- 4 1/2 cup Water
- 1 cup onions minced
- 1 tbls. ground black pepper
- 2 knobs fresh ginger juliened
- 3 tbls. safflower
- 2 tbls. garlic minced and toasted
- 4 large hard boiled eggs sliced in rounds
- 4 calamansi or 1 lemon, cut in wedges or thinly sliced
- 1 cup green onions thinly chopped
- In a large pot, heat the cooking oil and saute the garlic, onion, and ginger and ground black pepper
- Add the bouillon cube until the cube melts
- Add chicken and cook until outer layer turns golden brown
- Add fish sauce and uncooked rice
- Stir and cook for about 3 minutes
- Pour-in the water and bring to a boil
- Reduce heat and simmer until the rice is fully cooked, stirring occasionally , between 30 to 40 minutes
- Stir in safflower for additional color and aroma
- To make toasted garlic for the topping fry minced garlic in a little oil until it turns dark brown.
- Serve hot garnished with toasted garlic, minced green onions, hard boiled eggs, and lemon/calamansi
You can serve this with a side of Patis that can be added to taste.
