Arroz Caldo

Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 50 mins

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 head garlic, minced (about 8-10 big cloves)
• 3 inches fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into coin shapes
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 6 cups chicken broth (1 48-oz package)
• 3/4 cup rice (i prefer short-grain like calrose)
• green onion, sliced thin
• garlic, minced, fried golden brown and crispy
• egg, hard-cooked
• fish sauce
• lemon juice (or kalamansi juice, filipino kumquat)

Recipe

• 1 heat a stockpot or dutch oven over medium heat. add vegetable oil. add onions, garlic, and ginger. season lightly with salt and pepper. (i season lightly especially if it's for a sick person; also, fish sauce will add saltiness later.) cook, stirring, until fragrant and somewhat translucent. add chicken. cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is no longer pink.
• 2 add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. add rice, and simmer until rice is soft, about 30-40 minutes. taste and adjust seasoning.
• 3 before serving, remove the ginger coins (or leave it in to surprise people). dish into bowls and garnish each helping with sliced green onions, crisp-fried garlic, and a slice of hard-boiled egg. season to taste with the salty fish sauce and kalamansi juice. if desired, thin with a little more chicken stock or water.
• 4 notes * this thickens a lot when it cools, and is pretty porridge-y. it depends a lot on how "sticky" your rice is and how much broth it absorbs. add water or chicken broth when reheating. * if you don't like discovering ginger by biting on it, you can microplane the peeled ginger until it's incognito. * if fish sauce is unavailable, just add salt and pepper to your individual serving. we use kalamansi (filipino kumquat) juice, but lemon or lime wedges are an acceptable substitute.