Chicken Arrozcaldo (Chicken Arroz Caldo Soup)

The best Filipino comfort food on any given rainy day. Arroz caldo falls in the category of the lugaw, rice soup or congee.

1 cup rice
1 small chicken (chicken breast preferable)
1 inch cube ginger, thin slices
2 segments garlic, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tbsps. Butter
2 tbsps Patis (oriental fish sauce)
6 cups water
2 stalks onion leeks or green onion

Quarter the chicken breast or cut into convenient bite size pieces. Saute garlic, ginger and onion on the pan. Add the chicken and season with 2 tbsps of Patis. Cover the pan and simmer a few minutes under low heat.

Add the rice and water, stir the ingredients to make sure the rice doesn’t stick to the pan. Cook in low heat for over 20 minutes until the chicken and rice are cooked. Add the green onions. Salt to taste. Place in soup bowls.

You may put toppings or garnishings such as fried garlic bits, chicharon bits (deep-fried pork poppers), green onions, sliced boiled eggs to your liking.

Fish with Mustasa (Isda na may Mustasa)

Mustasa is a green leafy vegetable that's abundant in the Philippines and often pickled (buro, fermented, soaked in salt or brine). You may consider it as a watercress type veggie, but I guess in English its called Mustard leaves.

2 cups fish fillet (any fish of choice, less bony more meaty)
1 cup Mustasa leaves, cut into three
½ cup water
3 tbsps cooking oil
2 tbsp tausi (black seeds or fermented black beans)
¼ cup green onions
2 tbsp cooking oil

Heat pan and sauté the fish then add the mustasa leaves. Followed by the onions and tausi. Add the water. Cover the pan, continue to cook the dish in low heat. When vegetables are tender, place in serving platter. Enjoy!

Isdang Sarciado (Fish Sarciado Recipe)

If you like your fish dish ma-sarsa (saucy!) then this Filipino recipe is for you!

1 kilo fish
(these type of meaty fishes work well: tilapia, dalagang bukid, apahap, lapu-lapu, salmon, trout, bacoco )
3 tbsp cooking oil
½ cup finely chopped onions
1-1/2 cup chopped tomatoes, finely chopped
2 tbsps green onions, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt and pepper

Clean fish, remove fish cuts and rub in salt and pepper. Set aside for an hour then drain well. Heat oil in frying pan. Fry the whole fish in medium heat until light brown, do not overcook.
Saute garlic in 3tbsps cooking oil until light brown. Add the onions until they turn transparent in texture. Add the tomatoes and continue cooking over low heat, cover the pan, stir occasionally until sauce is a semi-thick consistency. Season with salt and pepper.

Place fish on platter then pour over the sauce then top with the green onions. Serve hot.

How to Cook Rice in a Rice Cooker

If you are cooking rice for the first time, fret not. The experience is easy with a rice cooker, but can be tricky with regular kitchen pots. There are many varieties of rice grains, some soak up a lot of water while some don't need much to fluff. Rice is the ultimate comfort food, as it is satisfying and very warm to the tummy.

Rice Cooking Basics:

1. Put 2 Cups of Rice in the rice cooker pot.

2. Rinse the rice. Remove the bits (stones, grain husks, dark colored bits) that may float to the surface. Pour the water into the drain. Repeat rinse process twice.

3. Add 2 1/2 cups of water.

4. Place the rice pot in the rice cooker. Turn on the switch and wait. Most rice cookers are automated so you don't need to bother adjusting the heat. The rice will boil, and when cooked, the rice will fluff out on its own.

5. When the switch goes off or switches to the "warm or simmer" mode. Let the rice simmer for 5 minutes before serving.

Toshiba's Shinku Atsuryoku Taki (Vacuum Pressure Cooker) is considered the world's most expensive rice cooker at $850

Getting different consistencies when cooking rice:
For soft, fluffy rice, add more water (half a cup or more) Ideal when cooking Japanese rice. For firmer rice, reduce the initial amount of water.

If you don' have a rice cooker, you can still cook rice on a regular pot. Follow the same rinse process. Measure the water level with your finger. We call this the finger test by estimating the rice level and water level with your finger. The water should be 1 inch or half inch above the rice grains.

There is a local saying that no grain of rice should be put to waste. As there's so much hard work place in harvesting rice. Well for Asians, Rice is gold.

Pandan Chicken Recipe

Though known as a Thai dish, the abundance of Pandan leaves in Pampanga also makes this chicken dish a Kapampangan fave!

Ingriedients:
• 5 Chicken thighs, deboned, cut into large chunks (good option would be chicken breast fillet) 
• Large pandan leaves for wrapping 
• 3 shallots 
• 2 tbsp garlic, chopped 
• 1 stalk lemon grass, sliced 
• 2 tsp chili sauce1/8 teaspoon sesame seeds

Recipe for special seasoning:
• 2 tsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp Patis / Fish sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 cup thick coconut milk
• 1/4 cup condensed milk

Pound chicken, add special seasoning.Mix in bowl (except for sesame seeds) and marinate the chicken for 3 hours. 

Wrap chicken in pandan leaves. Wrap chicken in a snug pandan leaf. Forming a cone with the leaf, tuck leaf ends to interlock creating a packet.

Deep fry. Sprinkle with roasted sesame seeds. Serve with sauce.

How to Make Togue or Toge Sprout from Mongo Beans

Togue are the sprouts from mongo beans (green mung beans)

When I was little my mom would make me put the mongo seeds in a palanggana (basin) filled with water. I would fill the basin full and cover it. We would leave it soaked overnight. By lunch hour, the next day, you got naked and long togue sprouts. The green mongo shells will float to the surface of the water.

Afterwards wash the sprouts in fresh water to clean out the loose mongo shells. Voila! The togue now ready for cooking! You can make Togue guisado, Stir Fried Togue, Togue with Tokwa (Soy) dishes

Pocherong Dalag Recipe: Tasty Mudfish Stew

Dalag is a type of mudfish. Its fish meat is white like the Dalagang Bukid. Its makes for a hearty stew!

1 medium-sized dalag (mudfish)
3 small ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 garlic head, pounded
1 onion, sliced fine
3 ripe bananas - the saba variety (Cardava Bananas- these are the fat bananas meant for boiling)
half head of cabbage, cut into 4 parts
2 potatoes, halves
1 cup water
salt to taste

Clean and slice the dalag. Deep fry the pieces.

On a new pan, saute garlic, onion and tomatoes. Add 1 cup water. When it finally boils put the bananas, the cabbage and potatoes. Cover with lid until the vegetables are done. Add the fried dalag to the stew. Salt to taste. Serve hot.