Arroz Caldo — Filipino Chicken Rice Porridge

Ingredients

• 1 lb Chicken Thighs
• 1 cup rice
• 3 tbsp fresh ginger, julienned
• 6 cloves garlic — half minced, half sliced and FRIED CRISP for topping
• 8 cups stock
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• Pinch of turmeric or safflower for the golden hue
• Toppings: the crispy garlic, scallions, boiled egg, calamansi or lemon

Method

1. Fry the sliced garlic in oil until golden-crisp; drain and guard it — the topping outranks most toppings.
2. In the same pot, sauté the ginger and minced garlic, add the Chicken Thighs to brown lightly, then the rice, stirring to coat.
3. Add the stock, fish sauce, and turmeric. Simmer 30 minutes, stirring more as it thickens, until the rice blooms into porridge and the chicken shreds (165°F).
4. Loosen with stock to your preferred lava-thickness.
5. Bowl it, then build: crispy garlic, scallions, egg halves, and a hard citrus squeeze. The Filipino answer to congee — and to rain, colds, and Mondays.