Chicken Arroz Caldo

Another icy day, another opportunity to make one of my mom's comforting Filipino dishes.  Since I had a little extra time this evening, and I had all the ingredients I needed at home, I decided to make chicken arroz caldo.  Should last me at least a couple of days.  One of my fellow D.C. Filipino food bloggers has a great entry on the background of the dish here.  As with all Filipino dishes, everyone has a different version of this dish, but they're all filling, flavorful, and delicious. 

Click below to see the recipe!

List of ingredients:

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. ginger, minced

3 lbs. chicken

3 tbsp. fish sauce

2 cups rice

enough water to cover the chicken

In a large pot, I heated the oil over medium heat and then added onion, cooking about 5 minutes.  Then I threw in the garlic and ginger and sauteed the whole mess until the onion was translucent. 

Next, I added the chicken and 3 tablespoons of fish sauce.  I love Filipino fish sauce, called patis, which I talked about in my recent sinigang recipe. 

I cooked the chicken for about 5 minutes, then added the rice and just enough water to cover the chicken, about 8 cups.

I brought the water to a boil, covered the pot, reduced the heat and let it simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until the rice absorbed most of the water and had taken on a tender, creamy consistency.

YUM.  This is another one of my very, very favorite dishes from my childhood, and a perfect dish for a cold and icy day.