Learning to make Arroz Caldo

I’ve been looking for something to eat before I run during road races or early morning training. I remember when I slept over at a friend’s house before the GK Run For Love last October 27, 2007 that was done at Mall of Asia (MOA). He asked his cook to prepare Arroz Caldo for him. So today, I asked Mom how to prepare Arroz Caldo. What’s nice is that it gives you carbohydrates (rice/grains) and protein (chicken).

This is mom’s recipe

Ingredients:

10 cups water
3/4 cup malagkit rice
3/4 cup regular rice
1 medium sized onion sliced
1 tbsp sliced ginger
2 tsp ground/coarse black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cube Knorr ® chicken broth
2 tsp of Kasuba
2pcs chicken breasts cut into small cubes

First, boil the 6-7 cups of water. Once boiling, put in the onions, ginger, pepper, salt and 1 chicken broth cube. Make it boil for about 5 mins. Then put in the chicken breast cubes into the pot. Wait about 2-3 minutes or until the chicken is cooked. Then using a strainer, take the chicken out (you don’t want your stock to be malangsa). Set it aside.

Afterwards, put in the 3/4 cup of malgkit rice and 3/4 cup of plain rice. Stir. Set the stove on low heat. Cover the pot and let the rice cook for 10 mins.

Check on the rice if it’s ready, but around this time, it’s still kinda hard. Stir the rice, which now looks more like porridge. At this point, add another cup of water. Let it simmer for another 10 mins.

Now, you can put in the chicken breast cubes back into the mix. Put in the Kasuba to give the porridge the distinctive yellow color. Add another cup of water and let the Arroz Caldo stand for another 10 mins.

Check to see if it tastes good. Now my personal favorites on top of the Arroz Caldo is toasted garlic flakes (I make my own, by toasting them in olive oil ). You can also put soy sauce (toyo) and fish sauce (patis) if you like.

Ok, I should sleep early since I’m doing another long run tomorrow morning at 6am in UP. Bon appétite!