Introducing.... Recipe Wednesdays

I thought that it would be a great idea to share a recipe. And to keep this going, I am reserving Wednesdays as my recipe day. I do love to cook and people often ask me how I make the dishes I make (most of the time :::wink wink::::). I'm glad David is not a picky eater and he will happily finish a plate of my filipino dishes. Most of the time, collaboration is needed between myself and my parents to keep the authenticity of the Filipino dishes that will be featured in Recipe Wednesdays. I will also feature recipes that I have collected from family and friends who are wonderful cooks.

Here's the first dish for my Recipe Wednesdays-

Arrozcaldo

The name of this dish literally translates to "hot rice". It is definitely a comfort food for me because my mom used to make this for my siblings and I when we get sick. It's probably the asian equivalent of chicken noodle soup. This dish is also versatile because you can eat it as breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I remember having this for breakfast all the time. I love eating this soup with Filipino bread rolls called "pan de sal".

Ingredients:

- 4 cups of water

- 2 tbsp. of oil

- 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken

** I use the meat from a rotisserie chicken **

- 1 cup sweet rice (you can find this in the rice section and the package will say sweet rice)

- 8-10 slices of ginger (I use about 15 slices because I looooovvveee the ginger flavor)

- 3 chicken bullion cubes

- 1/2 onion, sliced

- 2 to 3 large garlic cloves, chopped

- sliced green onions

- toasted diced garlic (optional, but I always include it)

- lemon wedges (Filipinos use calamansi but if you can't find it, lemon works also)

Cooking Instructions

On medium heat, saute onions and garlic in 2 tbs. of oil for 2 minutes and then add chicken. Saute for another 2 minutes (make sure you don't burn the garlic). Add water, ginger, sweet rice, and bullion cubes. Simmer until rice is cooked (about 20 min.) stirring frequently. When it's done, garnish with green onions and a splash of lemon!

****For toasted garlic, brown it in olive oil a separate pan on low-med. heat. Be careful not to overcook the garlic because it will just taste bitter.

Hope you enjoy. If you ever try this recipe, please let me know how it turned out for you!

Till next time :)