Arroz Caldo in Your Rice Cooker

Arroz Caldo (or lugaw) is a Filipino-style congee (rice porridge or rice gruel) commonly eaten for breakfast or fed to the sick or to infants. The rice is simmered in a higher ratio of water than what would normally be used to cook/steam it. The kernels are softer and broken, no longer retaining their shape. The starch in the rice leeches into the cooking liquid making it thicker and more viscous. It takes on a stew-like consistency.

The English term is “congee” derived from Tamil and it is commonly used in Chinese restaurants. The Chinese terms (粥), however, are “zhou” (Mandarin) and “jook” (Cantonese). “Congee” will be the English term I’ll use for the rest of this post.

Pinning Down Terms

Filipinos tend to use lugaw (Tagalog) and arroz caldo (Spanish, lit. “rice broth”) interchangeably. But, after doing some research, it appears that lugaw is plain congee. The preparation is rather simple: simmer rice in a large amount of liquid until the kernels break apart and the desired consistency is achieved. After cooking, other ingredients are added such as pork, chicken, sliced hard-boiled eggs and garnished with friend garlic, scallions and saffron. The preparation for arroz caldo is similar -- rice simmered in a large amount of liquid. However, the ingredients are added during the cooking process, instead. Common ingredients include ginger, garlic, onions, fish sauce and chicken. These are cooked with the rice in water or chicken stock. And, like lugaw, diners can add friend garlic, more fish sauce and scallions.

This recipe will concentrate on arroz caldo and cooking it in a rice cooker instead of on the stove top. I’ve cooked arroz caldo on the stove top many times. If you don’t keep stirring or minding the heat, the rice tends to scorch on the bottom of the pot. When I searched online for recipes for congee, one article piqued my interest. Its approach was to cook in a rice cooker.

Yes, in the Rice Cooker!

6 Ways to Make Rice Porridge or Congee was written by the owner of “Home-Made Chinese Soups”, Phoebe. Among the six ways she mentions is to use a rice cooker. I thought it was brilliant idea since rice cookers will reach a certain cooking temperature and maintain the food at that temperature until done. You, the cook don’t have to constantly fiddle with the temperature so the rice won’t scorch. Some more sophisticated and expensive cookers already have a congee setting. Score! My approach, however, will not assume that yours has a “congee” setting. I’m assuming yours (and mine) is a very basic unit.

Arroz caldo is thicker, more viscous than Chinese congee which Phoebe talks about in her article, so according to the section two, “How much water?”, I used a rice to liquid/water ratio of 1:4. Because this is arroz caldo and not lugaw, I sautéed the aromatic ingredients in the cooker with some oil until fragrant and then added the rice treating it like risotto. Once the rice kernels were well coated in oil, I added the liquid. Instead of adding onions, I decided to use a shortcut and added onion soup mix. But, I have added below steps to use onions, instead. After the onion soup mix or the onions, I added bone-in chicken thighs. I checked every five minutes until it reached the consistency that I wanted and turned the cooker to warm. One thing I noticed, is that the cooker continued in the “cook” setting and never tripped back to “warm”. So, your unit may go to "warm" when it thinks it’s done. If it isn’t, flip it back to "cook" and continue. Flip it back to "warm" when you’re done.

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
• 3 Cloves garlic minced
• 2 - 3 1/4” Discs of ginger
  [Another option is to use 1 Tablespoon minced ginger. I like the discs so that they can be pulled out while eating.]
• 1 Packet of onion soup mix
  [I used Lipton’s. But, you can use Knorr or another brand. Pay attention to the amount of water normally used on the packaging. You may not need to use the contents of the entire packet]
• 1 Cup (dry measure) long grain rice such as Jasmine
  [The choice of what kind of rice to use is up to you. I’ve seen short grain, long grain, a mix, glutinous, etc.; use what you have on hand.]
• 4 Cups water
• 3 Chicken thighs bone-in rinsed
  [You can use other chicken parts, bone-in or boneless. You may opt to remove the skin. But, I find that the skin imparts that “schmaltzy” flavor. Remove the skin once it’s done cooking if you prefer.]
• Condiments (optional):
  - Thinly sliced scallions
  - Sliced hard-boiled eggs
  - Saffron threads
  - Fish sauce (AKA “patis”)
  - Fried garlic

If you would not like to use the onion soup packet, you can use the following:

• 1 Medium onion sliced thin
• 1 Tablespoon fish sauce (AKA, “patis”, “nam pla”) (optional)
  -- OR --
• 2 pinches of salt (more to taste)

Directions

1. Wash the rice several times until the water becomes clear, drain and set aside.
2. Add the vegetable oil and the ginger to the inner pot of the rice cooker. Turn to the “cook” (or equivalent) setting.
3. Once the rice cooker reaches temperature, you will hear the ginger start to sizzle. (2 – 3 minutes) Sauté the ginger until fragrant.
4. Add the garlic and continue to sauté until fragrant.
5. If you are using the onion (not the soup packet), add the onion and sauté until translucent. Add a few pinches of salt to aid in sweating the onions.
6. Add the rice and stir for approximately five minutes.
7. Add the water.
8. If using the packet, stir in the contents of the packet until dissolved and the dehydrated onions absorb moisture.
9. Add the chicken and stir.
10. Cover and stir every 5 minutes.
11. Continue cooking until the arroz caldo thickens, the rice kernels break open and the chicken is cooked. Approximately, 30 to 40 minutes.
12. Remove chicken. Remove skin (optional), shred chicken and return to cooker.
13. Once the desired consistency is achieved turn off or set cooker to “warm” or turn off.
14. Serve in a bowl and top with friend garlic, scallions, saffron and hard boiled egg. Offer additional fish sauce on the side.

I don’t add much more than just a bit more patis to my bowl.

Notes

• Choose a rice cooker that can hold 8 or more cups of (cooked) rice. I tried this on my small 6-cup model and it was full up to the brim. I knew that it would over boil.
• If you are using the onion soup mix, do NOT add salt or fish sauce during cooking. The soup mix might have enough sodium as it is.
• Your cooker might switch to “warm” signifying that it thinks that the arroz caldo is done. If it isn’t switching it back to “cook” until you are done.
• The cooker may never switch to “warm” even when the arroz caldo is done. Switch it to “warm” when you feel it necessary.