Arroz Caldo (Warm Rice Soup)

There are 2 dishes that Filipino's love to make when someone is sick. Sinigang (Tamarind Based Soup/Stew with Mixed Veggies and Meat) and Arroz Caldo. It is basically the Chicken Noodle Soup of the Philippines. This is what I craved when I was recently feeling sick, and what I craved as a child. Just as we all say about our mothers cooking, "My mother makes it best!". She cooks the best Filipino Food. =] As a child, I dreamed that my mom would open a kitchen of her own. But, "cooking Filipino food is too much work", is what she would say. There are so many ingredients, and my mom doesn't like to take shortcuts by using food processors and such. She still cooks for the family, but would like some help or for someone to take over the big ticket items. Finally after 20 plus years, I am learning how to cook!!

What Do You Need?
    1          4lb Whole Chicken (Butchered)

    6          Cloves of Garlic (Minced)

    1          Medium Onion (Diced)

    3          Bay Leaves

    2          Inches of Ginger (Julienned)

                Salt and Pepper

  8-10      Cups of Water to Start

               Olive Oil or Canola

    2         Cups of Rice

Garnish:

    1          Bushel of Green Onions (Finely Diced)

   1-2        Lemons (Wedged)

    4          Garlic (Minced) - optional

   ??          Hard Boiled Eggs - optional

                Large Pot or Dutch Oven

Butcher Your Chicken:

2 Legs

2 Thighs

2 Wings & Drumettes

2 Breasts

1 Back Bone

This was honestly WAY too much meat when I cooked it. I would suggest saving the breast meat for another dinner.

Make Your Broth:

Oil your pot. Sauté garlic and onions until lightly browned. Remove onions and garlic mixture and place in a bowl. Then brown chicken pieces in the pot you used to sauté the onions and garlic. Cook 3-4 pieces at a time, then put it to the side. Once you are done browning the chicken, place the onions back into the pot and add about 8-10 cups of water to the pot, enough to fully cover the chicken. Turn the temp to HIGH, once it starts to boil, lower to a simmer. Add you bay leaves and 2 tablespoons of salt, if you wish add some pepper (I did a few twist of some cracked black pepper corns).The broth should be done after about 45 minutes. I wait until the chicken nearly falls off the bone. Keep on adding to the water in the pot as need to cover your chicken.

What Comes Next??

After the broth is made, remove all the chicken from the pot & set it to the side to cool. Add the ginger to the pot. Stop to think about how much broth you have in the pot. Then think about how much rice you would like to add to that. Imagine when you cook rice, how much of the pot it fills when it is fully cooked. What did I do? After my broth was done, I added 2 cups of washed rice into the pot. Turn the temperature to high, when it start to boil, turn it down to a simmer. At this point keep watch. If it looks like it needs more water, add as you see fit. It all depends on how you want the consistency of your porridge to be. The rice will be done cooking in about 20-30 minutes. During this time, shred the meat off the bones of you chicken. If you don’t like getting your hands dirty, you can chop it, but I like the shredded look, so I just sit there using my fingers. Turn off the heat. Let cool, then ENJOY.

Green Onion, just put a bunch on top then MIX.

Garlic, roast it in the OVEN. YUM!! 

Lemon, if you have calamansi that would be best. Otherwise, lemon will do… Squeeze some into your soup if you like.

Hard Boiled Eggs, who doesn't like eggs in their soup??

It’s a simple dish. This was the first time I made it. I actually wasn’t able to get my hands on actual ginger, so I used the stuff out of the tube. It wasn’t the same. I just had to add a lot more of it to my soup. I also added a little dried parsley to mine. Adds a little something different to it. Overall, I enjoyed it. & I hope that you do too. Let me know how it goes.