Arroz caldo (Filipino chicken rice soup)
A thick, gingery chicken and rice porridge topped with crispy fried garlic and a squeeze of lemon, the Filipino bowl for rainy days and sick days.
- 55 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $1.95 a serving
- 370 calories
- Good the next day
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 6 cloves garlic, 3 thinly sliced, 3 minced
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh ginger, cut into thin matchsticks
- 1 lb boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- ¾ cup jasmine rice, rinsed
- 3 chicken bouillon cubes, check the box: most cubes make 2 cups each
- 3 green onions, sliced
- 1 lemon, cut into wedges
From your pantry
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 6 cups water
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric
Each serving has about 370 calories, 27 g protein, 37 g carbs and 12 g fat, and costs about $1.95 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No boneless chicken thighs? Chicken breasts or chicken tenderloins work.
- No jasmine rice? Long-grain white rice or basmati rice works.
- No green onions? Chives work.
- No lemons? Limes work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
3 garlic cloves and the rest.
Thinly slice. Thinly slicing means cutting slices about an eighth of an inch thick, roughly two coins stacked. Thin slices cook in seconds and soften fast, which quick dishes need.
How you’ll know: A slice bends a little when you hold it by one edge, and slow, steady cuts beat fast ones.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
the onion and cut the ginger into thin matchsticks.
Chop. Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces on a separate board.
Heat the oil in a large pot over low heat. Fry the garlic, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes, until light golden, then scoop it onto a paper towel.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Low heatTimer: 2 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: Pull it the moment it turns light gold. Garlic goes from golden to bitter in seconds, and it keeps darkening after it comes out.Turn the heat to medium and add the onion, minced garlic and ginger to the same oil. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes, until soft and .
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min
Add the chicken and fish sauce and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes, until the chicken is no longer pink on the outside.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min
Stir in the rice for 1 minute, until coated, then pour in the water, in the bouillon cubes, add the turmeric and over high heat.
Crumble. Crumbling means breaking food into small, rough bits with your fingers or a spoon, like feta or ground meat in the pan. Small bits spread through the dish, so there’s some in every bite.
How you’ll know: The pieces are small and uneven, about pea-size, with no big clumps left.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Turn the heat to low, set the and for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until the rice has broken down into a thick porridge.
Lid ajar. Lid ajar means resting the lid on the pot slightly off-center, leaving a small gap. Some steam escapes, so the sauce thickens and doesn’t boil over, while most of the heat stays in.
How you’ll know: A thin wisp of steam drifts out of the gap, and the pot bubbles gently without spilling.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 27 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: Rice settles and sticks, so scrape the bottom each time you stir. By now the chicken is well past done.Food safety: Chicken and turkey are done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
Taste and add more fish sauce if it needs salt, or a splash of water if it’s too thick.
Splash. A splash is a small, quick pour, about a teaspoon to a tablespoon. It’s there to loosen or brighten a dish, so the exact amount doesn’t matter.
How you’ll know: The dish looks a little looser or tastes a little brighter, not soupy.
Ladle into bowls and top with the fried garlic and green onions, with lemon wedges to squeeze over.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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