Arroz Caldo (a.k.a. “What I’ma Do With All This Leftover Chicken?!”)
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Arroz Caldo is one of my favorite Filipino comfort foods. It’s up there with corned beef + sticky rice + eggs. This is also the perfect recipe for getting rid of left over chicken. In my case, a grocery store rotisserie chicken (hey, don’t sleep on grocery store rotisserie chickens!).
For me, ginger is what makes arroz caldo, so I use a lot more than most recipes. Also, most people julienne the ginger into thin matchsticks, but I like my ginger slices a bit chunkier. It adds a nice texture and spicy gingery bite to each spoonful. And that’s how my momma does it so that’s how I do it.
And I know this looks like a big ol’ bowl of beige, but it’s SO GOOD. Trust me, I like to eat.
The ingredients are pretty simple – rice, chicken, chicken broth, garlic, scallions, limes, ginger, jalapenos, onions, patis.
Hand shredded leftover chicken. BTW, did you know that shredding a whole chicken by hand is a great stress reliever? lol
Prep time – chopped green onions. Let me tell you how this ceramic knife makes it seem like everything I cut is soft butter.
Tiny kitchen tip: you can peel ginger easliy by scraping off the skin with a spoon. When you use a knife to remove the thin skin, chances are you’re removing some of the actual ginger unnecessarily. Use a spoon!
Julienned ginger – thicker than the usual julienne because I like my gingers chonkaaay.
Ginger, garlic, and onion sautéing.
Add the chicken into the ginger+garlic+onion mixture and let it get all warm and delicious.
Add the patis.
Add in the rice and sauté for a few minutes to soak up all that gingery patis deliciousness.
Add the broth and the jalapeno. I like to split a jalapeno in half and let it cook while the rice does. Depending on how spicy you like things, skip this step, take it out half way during cooking, or leave ’em in the whole time. Chef’s choice.
…and 35 minutes later it’s arroz caldo times! Garnish with more lime juice, scallions and avocado.
Arroz Caldo
adapted from my momma’s recipe
makes 1 big ass pot (enough for 4) in about 50 minutes.
Ingredients
1 ½ lbs chicken, cooked and shredded
1 ½ cups uncooked rice
32 ounces chicken stock
2 tbsp fish sauce (Patis!)
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 cup onion, minced
4″ fresh ginger, julienned
1 jalapeno, split lengthwise (optional)
1 lemon or lime or 4 pieces calamansi if you have it
2 tbsp cooking oil
Directions
In a large pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, ginger and garlic and sauté until fragrant and onions begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
Add in a few grinds of black pepper.
Add in chicken and stir well with onion, garlic and ginger.
Add in fish sauce and the uncooked rice. Saute mixture together for a few minutes to coat the rice.
Pour in chicken stock and bring to a boil.
Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and cover, stirring occasionally, until rice is cooked, about 30-40 minutes. (Note: be sure to keep an eye on it and don’t let the rice stick to the bottom and burn. You may also have to add additional liquid as the rice absorbs the stock. I probably added another cup of water throughout the cooking process).
Top with scallions. Serve with citrus of your choice. I like avocado, so I added a few slices. Bam.
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