Arroz Caldo ala Racela

Last week, while we were pondering our food lineup, we suddenly had a huige craving for "Arroz Caldo". "Arroz Caldo" or "lugaw" to us pinoy folks is a popular dish back home. It is a type of rice porridge eaten in many asian countries involving rice and some type of flavorful broth. You can read more about the history of Lugaw here. 


We can't really remember how my mom made hers but this is our own interpretation. We hope you guys like it! Recipe down the end. Enjoy!

Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and lightly fry on a separate stock pot

We slice our ginger a little bit bigger than normal to make it easier to fish out when eating (Not too fond of biting into ginger)

On a separate stock pot, sauté your garlic, onions and ginger, then add the rice. We ladle the chicken stock in small amounts to the rice ala risotto until we get the right texture from the rice making sure that we have a bit of stock left aside. The rice ends up drinking the broth so make sure to have some in reserve unless you want to have a huge pot of rice cake ("biko")!

Garnish with fried garlic and spring onions and serve piping hot!!!!


Ingredients:
6 chicken thighs cut in half (any chicken part will do)
1 cup sticky rice
2 cups jasmine rice
2 cloves of garlic diced
1 medium onion diced
1 small ginger peeled and cut into strips
chicken stock or 2 chicken bouillon cubes
saffron (optional)
1 cup frozen peas (optional)
fried garlic and chopped spring onions


1. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper and lightly fry in a stock pot.
2. Set aside some of the oil then add the chicken broth or bouillon cubes with 3-4 cups of water, let simmer with the chicken pieces until chicken is fully cooked. 
3. On a separate stock pot, sauté the garlic, onions and ginger in the oil that was set aside in step 2.
4. Add the rice and saffron and sauté for a 2-3 minutes.
5. Ladle the chicken stock into the rice making sure to stir constantly to prevent the rice from burning. 
6. Repeat until the rice is cooked and creamy! Don't forget to add the chicken pieces into the mix!
7. Just keep on adding the stock if you want a thinner soup.
8. Serve in a bowl with fried garlic and fresh spring onions and enjoy!


We are a big veggie consuming family and I almost always find a way to sneak some in every dish. If you're not too closed minded with your 'lugaw" then put in a cup or 2 of frozen green peas at the end. :o)


You might also enjoy some of our other recipes!
Shrimp and Chicken Gumbo ala Racela
A Good Friday Tradition