rice cake confessional

Welcome! I’m pretty good at starting things and not finishing them. This is the latest in my attempt to get new hobbies. Let’s see how long this lasts…

Anyway, I cooked my first meal in the new apartment this evening. I call it [lazy arrozcaldo] – basically chicken porridge. In the Philippines rice porridge has different names depending on what you throw in. Here’s your cultural lesson for the day:

arrozcaldo: chicken rice porridge
lugaw: plain rice porridge
goto: beef rice porridge

The ‘lazy’ portion is because I opted for canned chicken instead of fresh chicken. I hadn’t tried it before, but it turned out a-ok. Here’s an action shot of freshly chopped green onions.

Lazy Arrozcaldo
(makes 2 servings)

1 1/2 cups of rice
5 cups of water
3 stalks of green onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 of a small onion, diced
1 knob of ginger, diced
5 oz of canned chicken, drained
1 tbsp of oil
salt, pepper, fish sauce, lemon juice to taste

Directions:

1. Boil the water in a small pot while you prep the veggies. When it starts boiling, throw in the rice and give it a good stir. Don’t forget to stir the rice once in awhile to avoid it getting stuck to the bottom of the pan or clumping.
2. Heat the oil in a saute pan. Add the garlic, onions, and ginger – allowing each to brown before adding the next ingredient.
3. Should smell yummy already. Add the drained chicken to the pan and stir.
4. When it’s all nicely mixed add the chicken mixture to the pot of rice. Season with salt, pepper, and fish sauce. Allow to simmer for at least 10 to 15 minutes.
5. Throw in the green onions and allow to simmer for another 5 minutes.
6. Serve with a fresh squeeze of lemon juice and extra fish sauce/pepper.

The original version of the soup that my mom makes on cold days uses 1 whole chopped chicken (skin and all) or wings and drumettes. She also adds a pinch of saffron and fried garlic to garnish. It’s also boiled for much longer so the rice gets super soupy. If you’re not a huge fan of ginger (or don’t like actually eating it) you can cut the ginger into thin discs or julienne them instead. The longer you simmer, the tastier it will be. Ta da!