Heavily flavored with ginger and often garnished with toasted garlic, scallions, and black pepper, arroz caldo is a bowl of Filipino rice and chicken gruel. It is usually served with lemon or fish sauce and a hard-boiled egg. Some models also incorporate safflower to make the dish orange.
While pospas has slightly different ingredients, arroz caldo is also known as pospas in Visayan regions. Literally, arroz caldo means hot rice. This is a favorite Filipino dish, which closely resembles risotto.
While Arroz Caldo is of Chinese origin, due to its pronunciation, the name is attributed to the Spaniards. Either way, it is now prominent all over the Philipines. To learn how to make this delicious dish, follow the recipe below.
Filipino-Style Arroz Caldo
- Author: Romae Chanice Marquez
- Recipe Category: Snacks
- Cuisine: Filipino
Try to top the dish with some safflower, toasted garlic, and scallions to make your Arroz Caldo look and taste better. Squeeze half a lemon and finish. The whole preparation and cooking time is 1 hour. This recipe is suitable for six servings.
Arroz Caldo is considered as one of the most flavorful comfort foods in the Philippines. Photo credit: @fob_kitchen / Instagram.com
Filipino-Style Arroz Caldo Ingredients
- 2 lbs chicken cut into individual portions
- 2 cups rice , uncooked
- 37 ounces water, about 1 liter
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 teaspoons garlic
- 1/2 tablespoon ground black pepper
- 2 cups minced onion
- 4 pieces of eggs, hard-boiled
- 1 1/2 cups scallions or green onions, minced
- 3 knobs ginger, julienned
- 3 tbsp safflower
- 3 cubes of chicken bouillon
- 2 pieces lemon or 4 pieces calamansi
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
Filipino-Style Arroz Caldo Instructions
Step 1: Warm the cooking oil in a pan, then saute the garlic, onion, and ginger.
Step 2: Sprinkle in some ground black pepper.
Step 3: Add the chicken bouillon and cook until the cubes have melted.
Step 4: Put-in the chicken and cook until the color of the outer layer turns golden brown.
Step 5: Add the fish sauce and uncooked rice and pour in the water, bring it to a boil. Then, let it simmer until the rice is cooked properly.
Step 6: Let it cool down enough for consumption and then enjoy it!
Filipino-Style Arroz Caldo Additional Information
- Per serving, this recipe has 538 calories, 42 g of carbohydrates, 25 g of protein, 29 g of fat.
- It will take about 1 hour to create this recipe.
- This recipe will make six portions.
- The safflower plant’s corollas can either be yellow or red. The red variety is widely used for arroz caldo. When cooked, it creates a yellowish color.
Image source: kawalingpinoy.com
About Filipino-Style Arroz Caldo
Arroz caldo uses glutinous rice usually, but it can also be made with regular rice boiled with excess water. The the chicken is typically cooked first with a large amount of ginger in a broth. When tender, the chicken is removed and sliced and re-added with the rice.
Throughout cooking, the rice is stirred continuously to prevent it from sticking to the bowl. The dish’s signature yellow color is due to kasubha (safflower) being introduced. Saffron can be used in more expensive versions, which, unlike safflower, further improves the taste. Alternatively, some recipes use turmeric when neither are available.
Arroz caldo is eaten with a single hard-boiled egg in individual cups. It is garnished with toasted garlic, black pepper, and chopped scallions. It is also possible to add crumbled chicharon to improve texture and taste. Although arroz caldo is very fragrant, it is generally very smooth in taste. It, therefore, needs to be further seasoned with different condiments. Calamansi and fish sauce are the most widely used condiments. Calamansi may be substituted with lime or lemon.
Conclusion
Arroz caldo is regarded as comfort food in Filipino cuisine. It is a warm, delicious dish that is perfect to share with family and friends. For more Filipino recipes, click here.
Featured Image: @foodworthsavoring / Instagram.com, @shinchanbaby / Instagram.com