Arroz Caldo (Filipino Congee)
Course: Main Course, PinoyDifficulty: EasyServings
4
servingsPrep time
10
minutesCooking time
30
minutesCalories
250
kcalArroz Caldo is one of my favorite food for breakfast and night time snack when I was still in the Philippines. Most of the time, I would just buy this because you will see street food vendors selling this all over the place. It was pretty convenient for me to buy instead of cooking it because I was living by myself.
Although when I was still at my aunt’s house, she would cook this in the morning if we have some leftover rice from last night and if the weather is a little bit cold.
This Filipino recipe is just simply a rice soup mixed with sautéed chicken and boiled eggs. The combination of the fish sauce and ginger makes the flavor of this Filipino congee perfect. You can actually cook this Pinoy recipe from leftovers. You can use leftover rice and leftover chicken, though some people would prefer to use fresh ingredients. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. There is also different ways of cooking this. Others would sauté all the ingredients including the uncooked rice and then put some chicken broth and let the rice cook with the broth. That is perfectly okay. I prefer the way I cook it because it is easier for me.
The quantity of the ingredients like rice, chicken and boiled eggs are actually all up to you. Some cooks would prefer Arroz Caldo with a lot of chicken and boiled eggs. But if you are like most of the people I know who are on a tight budget, then you would prefer to use more rice and less chicken and eggs. It will still come out okay. I prefer it with lots of rice and less chicken and eggs. That’s just how I like it. I only cooked it with a lot of chicken because I know that Nunnie is going to like that.
Although when I was still at my aunt’s house, she would cook this in the morning if we have some leftover rice from last night and if the weather is a little bit cold.
This Filipino recipe is just simply a rice soup mixed with sautéed chicken and boiled eggs. The combination of the fish sauce and ginger makes the flavor of this Filipino congee perfect. You can actually cook this Pinoy recipe from leftovers. You can use leftover rice and leftover chicken, though some people would prefer to use fresh ingredients. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. There is also different ways of cooking this. Others would sauté all the ingredients including the uncooked rice and then put some chicken broth and let the rice cook with the broth. That is perfectly okay. I prefer the way I cook it because it is easier for me.
The quantity of the ingredients like rice, chicken and boiled eggs are actually all up to you. Some cooks would prefer Arroz Caldo with a lot of chicken and boiled eggs. But if you are like most of the people I know who are on a tight budget, then you would prefer to use more rice and less chicken and eggs. It will still come out okay. I prefer it with lots of rice and less chicken and eggs. That’s just how I like it. I only cooked it with a lot of chicken because I know that Nunnie is going to like that.
Ingredients
1 whole head minced garlic
1 tbsp sliced ginger
2 tbsp sliced onion
2 pieces chicken breasts, chopped into cubes
3 cups cooked rice
1 tsp annatto
Boiled eggs, however much you want
Chopped spring onion
Fish sauce to taste
Ground black pepper to taste
3 tbsp vegetable oil
4 cups of water
Directions
- Heat some vegetable oil in a saucepan. Sauté the garlic until golden brown.
- Set aside half of the sautéed garlic. Saute the ginger, followed by the onion.
- Then add the chicken breast.
- Season it with fish sauce and black pepper.
- Let it simmer until the chicken is cooked.
- Now add cooked rice and water to the saucepan.
- Use a strainer to color the mixture with annatto.
- Let it simmer on low for a few minutes while stirring it constantly.
- Serve it hot and top it with boiled eggs, chopped green onion and some fried garlic.
