← Nouns Cooking · Indonesian & Filipino

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 6 cloves Garlic, thinly sliced
• 40 g Ginger, peeled and cut into thin strips
• 3 cloves Garlic, minced
• 1 Onion, chopped
• 800 g bone-in chicken thighs or drumsticks
• 3 tbsp Fish sauce
• 200 g glutinous rice (or half jasmine rice), rinsed
• 2 l chicken stock or water
• 1 pinch kasubha (safflower) or a pinch of saffron (optional)
• Black pepper
• 3 hard-boiled eggs, halved
• 3 Spring onion, sliced
• 6 calamansi (or 2 limes), halved

Method

1. Fry the sliced garlic in the oil in a large pot over low heat for 3–4 min, stirring, until pale golden. Lift it out onto paper; it crisps as it cools. Keep the oil in the pot.
2. Turn the heat to medium and fry the ginger, minced garlic and onion in the garlic oil for 3 min until soft and fragrant.
3. Add the chicken and fish sauce and cook for 5 min, turning, until the chicken is opaque outside. Stir in the rice for 2 min to coat it in the oil.
4. Pour in the stock, add the safflower (if using) and bring to the boil. Simmer over low heat for 35–40 min, stirring often so it does not stick, until the rice has broken down into a thick porridge and the chicken reaches 75°C (165°F).
5. Lift out the chicken, pull the meat off the bones and return it to the pot. Season with pepper and more fish sauce, loosening with hot water if needed.
6. Serve in bowls topped with egg halves, crispy garlic and spring onion, with calamansi to squeeze over.

Tips

• Arroz caldo thickens as it stands; add hot stock when reheating.
• Chicken livers, gizzards or tofu (arroz caldo with tokwa) are popular add-ins.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Panlasang Pinoy Foxy Folksy