Arroz Caldo (Filipino Rice Porridge)

Arroz Caldo

With the cold winter season in full effect, the chiller temperatures have me craving childhood comfort foods. As a young girl, my Mom would whip up a warm bowl of arroz caldo, rice porridge with chicken, to help settle me after a tough day at school or to give me strength to fight a cold. Arroz caldo is like the Filipino version of chicken noodle soup, offering a delicious remedy to nurse the weary back to health! 

Did you know: Rice porridge or congee is a staple in many Asian countries and despite the countless variations, they all consist of rice that is slowly cooked in water or broth to give the soupy meal that distinct soft and creamy texture. 

Arroz caldo truly embodies the diversity and richness of Philippines' history. While the name is a Spanish term meaning "rice soup", the soup itself reflects its Chinese influences of congee, which is rice cooked in water or broth for long periods of time until it develops a thick porridge consistency. In the Philippines, congee is also referred to as "lugaw" in Tagalog.

Did you know:  Arroz caldo is influenced by the Spanish colonial settlers who adapted the dish to their taste by adding saffron and black pepper.  

Often served as a meal on its own, arroz caldo is made with chicken, ginger, onions and garlic then garnished with slices of hardboiled egg, chopped green onions and crispy fried garlic. I like adding some fresh lemon or calamansi juice 

to help brighten up all the flavours. 

Did you know: Lugaw is the Filipino variation of Chinese congee but boiled with fresh ginger and traditionally served with tokwa't baboy (diced tofu & pork), calamansi and patis (fish sauce).

To help give you that extra boost of TLC during these colder days, try making a batch of warm and hearty arroz caldo. The perfect meal that can bring comfort to all ages. 

Ingredients for Arroz Caldo

Ingredients:

- 2 tbsp vegetable oil

- 3 cloves of garlic, minced

- 1 medium white onion, chopped

- 1 tbsp ginger, grated

- 1 lb of chicken thighs (or 4 pieces), cut in half

- 1 cup white uncooked rice

- 4 cups of low sodium chicken broth

- 2 tbsp soy sauce

- 1 tsp patis (fish sauce)

- 1/2 tsp black pepper

- 1/8 tsp of saffron

- 1/4 cup of green onions, chopped

- fried garlic pieces

- 1 lemon, cut into wedges or calamansi, cut in half

- 3 hard boiled eggs, sliced 

- patis to taste

Tasty Tip: To keep your extra ginger from going bad simply place unpeeled ginger in a freezer-safe container and pop it in the freezer. Then to use the ginger, remove a piece from the freezer and grate as much as you need. There is no need to thaw it first; in fact, frozen ginger is easier to grate than fresh.

Preparation:

1) In a large sauce pan, heat vegetable oil to medium heat then saute onions until soft and translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Add garlic then saute for another minute.

2) Add chicken thighs and fresh ginger. Cook the chicken until it's half way done and the skin turns a golden brown, 5 minutes. Add the uncooked rice and stir with chicken for 2 minutes.

3) Pour in the chicken broth, soy sauce, patis and pepper. Bring the broth to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Taste the soup and adjust your seasonings accordingly. Make sure to stir occasionally until the rice is fully cooked, 35 to 40 minutes, to ensure the rice grains break down. 

4) Once rice has been cooked, add the saffron for colour and additional flavourings. 

5) Serve your arroz caldo immediately while hot and garnish with pieces of hardboiled eggs, green onions, fried garlic and lemon or calamansi wedges. Masarup!!      

Try this: Substitute the chicken with prawns, pork or Chinese sausage. For those heat seekers, drizzle some Thai Sriracha or sweet chile sauce for some added spice.

Toasted Garlic 

Heat 1/2 cup of vegetable oil to medium heat in a sauce pan. Then fry 1/2 cup of sliced garlic pieces in hot oil, stirring constantly to prevent the garlic from burning. When the garlic has turned crispy and golden brown, remove it from the pan and drain the pieces on a paper towel. Enjoy on top of arroz caldo or sinangag (Filipino fried garlic rice). 

Candice's Cusina in the Philippine Canadian Inquirer!

I am so lucky to be featured in the Philippine Canadian Inquirer, the first and only free nationally distributed Filipino-Canadian weekly newspaper.

Thank you to PCI's correspondent Angie Duarte for writing a fabulous article "Filipino-Canadian In Focus: Candice Macalino". She has a talent for words and so honoured that she thoughtfully crafted such a lovely piece!

I'm so grateful to PCI's Editor Melissa Remulla-Briones for the opportunity to be a resident food writer and featured my first post, my Auntie Nas' Bicol Laing recipe. The Laing instructional YouTube video with my Aunt has close to 16,000 views!!

Thank you for all the love and support from my family, friends and fans during my journey with Candice's Cusina and bringing public awareness about Filipino food & culture. I'm already thinking of new articles and blog posts to come shortly and look forward to writing more for the PCI! xoxo

Hooray for Special K Loaf, with Longanisa

Special K loaf with Longanisa

I grew up eating this comfort food, Special K loaf, made with cottage cheese, eggs, and of course, Special K cereal! To me this loaf is the breakfast of champions that can be easily served for lunch or dinner.

Longanisa Sausages

My twist is adding longanisa sausage. Similar to the chorizo sausage, Filipino longanisa is made with pork as well as chicken, beef and even tuna. What separates longanisa from other sausages is its hints of yummy sweetness along with some spicy heat.

Did you know: "White" panko breadcrumbs is made from bread that has had the crusts removed while "tan" panko breadcrumbs is made with the whole loaf of bread. 

I then top the Special K loaf with Japanese panko breadcrumbs and parmasen cheese to create a delectable crispy crust. This recipe takes moments to prepare and you'll be enjoying cheesy Special K goodness in no time!

Special K Loaf ingredients

Ingredients:
6 links of longanisa sausages, removed from casings
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
5 eggs
1 large container of cottage cheese (750g)
1 stick of butter (8 tbsp), melted
5 cups of Special K cereal
3 tbsp white panko breadcrumbs
3 tbsp parmasen, grated
salt & pepper to taste

Preparation:
1) Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2) Heat pan to medium heat then saute longanisa sausages until cooked, 7-10 minutes. Remove longanisa, keep drippings in pan, and place on paper towel to drain excess grease.
3) Add onions to pan in longanisa dripping and saute until translucent, 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and saute for another 1-2 minutes. Remove from pan.
4) Mix eggs, cottage cheese, butter, Special K cereal together in a large bowl. Then add longanisa, sauteed onions and garlic to Special K mixture. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
5) Pour combined mixture into shallow Pyrex dish (9"x9"). Top with panko and grated parmasen. Bake in oven for 45 minutes on middle shelf. Then place the Special K loaf to the top rack and broil for 2-3 minutes to brown the crust. Enjoy!!!

Close-up of the yummy Special K Loaf with Longanisa!

Christmas Menudo - Filipino Stew

Like many Filipino dishes, Menudo is comfort food and perfect for Christmas dinner! It's a tomato based stew and typically with cubed pork, sausages, liver, raisins, potatoes and veggies.

My Mom's Menudo recipe is one of my favourite stews, minus the liver and raisins.  Here's a quick one-minute video of the Menudo recipe, enjoy;)


Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 large diced yellow onion
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes (3 medium tomatoes)
- 1 lb cubed pork shoulder or back
- 2 chorizo sausages, sliced
- 1/2 cup cubed potatoes
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced into strips
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- salt & pepper to taste

Preparation:
1) Heat pan at medium heat then add vegetable oil. Saute onion for 2 minutes until softened. Add garlic and tomatoes and cook for another 2 minutes.
2) Add the pork and chorizo then season with soy sauce, salt, pepper & brown sugar. Cook pork for 5-7 minutes. Add potatoes and let simmer for 30-40 minutes until pork and potatoes are cooked.
3) Add red bell pepper and peas and cook for another 2 minutes. Season with soy sauce & pepper to taste then drizzle extra virgin olive oil for a finishing touch. Enjoy the Menudo with rice or pandesal!

Tasty Tip: Menudo can be easily cooked in a slow cooker. It can be made in large batches because it keeps well as left overs and can stay up to 2 weeks in the freezer.

Noche Buena - A Good Night for a Filipino Feast!

Noche Buena  Feast with the Macalino's!

The Christmas season is my favourite time of the year because for my family it's about spending time together and indulging in a Filipino feast called Noche Buena. Spanish for "good night", Noche Buena is a traditional late-night meal celebrated after midnight mass by many Filipino families on Christmas Eve. I still get giddy with excitement during the car ride home from church, anticipating the dishes that my Mom had lovingly prepared earlier that day. 

As we approach my parent's house, it's around 1:30 am and we're looking forward to our second Christmas Eve dinner. My Mom brings out her best china and silverware, a special touch for the holidays, to serve our favourite Filipino and non-Filipino dishes. 

Her Noche Bueno menu changes from year to year but we can always count on the staples: pandasel (sweet Filipino buns) with sliced roasted ham and pasko de bola (ripened cheese ball), buko (young coconut) fruit salad, cold macaroni chicken salad and my favourite, bibingka (coconut cake). 

With my Dad's favourite Frank Sinatra Christmas album jingling in the background, we dig into the festive treats while joking about old family memories, reminiscing about the past year's events and being grateful for spending another Christmas together. By 3:30 am, we're exchanging gifts and slowly winding down for the night. 

There are lots of leftovers from Noche Buena and we're able to easily whip up another large spread when our extended family gathers for Christmas dinner.  To my delight, my Mom always makes sure we have ample bibingka cakes to last until the following day - she knows it's not a Filipino Christmas without them! 

Bibingka Cake!

Bibingka is a soft and chewy cake made with flour, sugar and coconut milk. It's baked in pan lined with banana leaves to help impart flavour and create a natural non-stick surface. Once cooked, the cake is topped with butter, sugar, grated coconut, shredded edam cheese and salted duck egg. 

Bibingka can be enjoyed as a snack, dessert or breakfast and can be found as street food in the Philippines as well as in high-end restaurants and five-star hotels. It's loved by many Filipinos because of the unique flavour combination. The sweet coconut cake with the savoury cheese and salted egg surprisingly go well together. For me, bibingks tastes like Christmas!

Food is and will always be the center of any Filipino celebration, especially during a Noche Buena feast. In addition to basting your turkeys, try adding this bibingka recipe to your Christmas menu. Happy Holidays!

Candice's Cusina Bibingka Cakes

Bibingka with the works!

Ingredients
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour (or rice flour)
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 coconut milk
2-3 banana leaves

Toppings
1 cup shredded cheese (Edam, Mozzarella, or Cheddar)
1 boiled salted egg, diced
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp sugar
1/3 cup grated fresh coconut 

Preparation
1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Line one 8" diameter springform pan or five 6 oz. ramekins with banana leaves. Brush leaves with butter.
2. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs and sugar with an electric mixer on high speed for 5-7 minutes until the mixture has thickened and tuned a pale yellow.
4. Slowly add flour mix and coconut milk to egg mixture until just blended. Then mix in 1/2 cup cheese. Then pour batter into springform pan or ramekins and top with 1/2 diced salted egg.
5. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove cake and the top it with the other 1/2 diced salted egg and 1/2 cup of cheese. Bake for another 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Brush top of cake with butter then sprinkle with sugar and grated coconut. 

Yummy Modern Indian Fare at Rangoli

As I entered Rangoli, my spirits were immediately lifted when greeted with sweet aromas of Indian spices, rich colours from the hip but simply decorated interior and Bhangra music cheerfully playing in the background. 

Rangoli restaurant & market

This warm welcome is symbolic to the meaning of the restaurant's name. Rangoli is an Indian ancient folk art of patterns, made from coloured ground rice, decorated in front of home entrances. This practice is an expression of hospitality that also enhances the beauty of its surroundings.

Rangoli is Vij’s charming sister restaurant, located right next door on 11th and Granville Street.  Positioned as the more causal eatery that doubles as a marketplace selling Vij's frozen and packaged meals, it is open for lunch and dinner. 

Owner Vikram Vij is spotted regularly on sight, at both Vij's and Rangoli, warmly greeting and serving guests. When I visited, he was out-of-town on his annual culinary tour. He brings 15 to 20 foodies to India and is their personal tour guide, introducing them to his favourite restaurants and markets as well as teaching them how to cook local Indian fare.

Bottomless Chai Tea

In the absence of Vikram, Rangoli's manager, Cory, happily recommended his favourites from the menu. To help warm me up from Vancouver's winter rain, he brought over a steaming hot mug of chai tea. It was a light and creamy brew of black tea and milk with the perfect spice balance of cinnamon, cardamon, ginger and star anise. The chai is bottomless, so I delightfully cozied up to a couple of chai mugfuls before dinner arrived. 

Savoury Chaat

Cory brought out my first course, the savoury chaat, a traditional Indian snack. Served cold, I enjoyed the texture and flavour medley of crunchy wheat crisps with the creamy yogurt and the spicy baked potatoes with the sweet chutney.

Lamb in cumin in light cream curry

For my entree, I ordered the lamb in cumin and light cream curry. I liked there was a good amount of tender lamb tucked among the stewed peppers and onions. The naan, basmati rice and spring salad were all great companions for the curry that had a light richness with gentle hints of cumin.

Meeti Roti

Being stuffed with savoury chaat, lamb curry and three servings of chai tea didn't deter me from ordering dessert. Going with Cory's final recommendation, I ordered the meeti roti, made of chapatis (flat unleavened bread) filled with Demerara sugar and cashews then drizzled with vanilla custard. Strings of julienned mint brightened up the dish and I managed to polish off 3 meeti roti wedges!

Amazing chefs at Rangoli

At Rangoli you can have the best of both worlds - quick and friendly service with dishes that hold the same elegance and modern-Indian flavours that can be found at Vij's, minus the line-ups.

Rangoli

1488 W 11th Avenue

Vancouver, BC

(604) 736-5711
www.vijsrangoli.ca

My recommendations:

Chai Tea $2.50; Savoury Chaat $8.50; Lamb in Cumin & Light Creamy Curry $15; Meeti Roti $5.50

New Food Fusion in Old Chinatown

Bao Bei stands true to its Chinese and French inspired confusion, I mean fusion, from its sophisticated French country decor, modernization on Chinese home-cooking classics and swanky new-age cocktails. The concept of a Chinese Brassiere seems to work because the eatery has been bustling since day one. 

They don't take reservations so don't be surprised to see a line-up at the door, but be assured it's worth the wait. A good tip is to come early, put your name down on the list and grab a drink or two at the Keefer Bar several doors down. That's what we did during our 20 minute wait.

Chino Margarita

When we returned, our table was ready and as we took our seats, we were greeted by our server who quickly suggested his favourite cocktail, the Chino Margarita, which we ordered with little persuasion. It was like summer in a glass! A refreshing concoction of tangerine tequila, ginger, lime, frothy egg white with a chili salt and sugar rim. 

Bao Bei was conceived by Tannis Ling along with chef Joel Watanabe in 2010. They developed a menu with an interesting mix of Taiwanese, Shanghaniese, Vietmanese and French infused dishes. Our server informed us that the tapa-style meals are meant for sharing and recommended that we order his top five dishes, an optimal amount for two people. 

Bean Curd Skin

We were famished and immediately tucked into our first "schnack",  a light and tasty appetizer of bean curd skin (thin tofu sheets) and king oyster mushroom marinated a delicate truffle vinaigrette. 

Beef Tartare

Like many Asian restaurants, the other four main dishes came to our table as they were cooked. The presentation of the beef tartare was an impressive symphony of colours and textures. A bit of assembly is required to combine the raw quail egg with the Pemberton beef tenderloin. The delightful result was creamy tartare that had some zing from the ginger and shallots. The salty taro chips made for the perfect spoon to scoop up the savoury tartare and fresh watercress salad.  

Steamed Fish

The steelhead salmon dish came in a large bowl swimming in a green soup made from basil, ginger, Shaoxing (rice wine) and chili paste. The fish was impeccably done to my taste, steamed on the outside and rare on the inside, and combined nicely with the silky green puree. 

Shao Bing

When the Shao Bing arrived, it was anything but a boring sandwich! The Shao Bing is a "must order" dish that evokes more Middle Eastern flavours than Chinese or French. The crispy sesame flatbread was an excellent vessel to hold the cumin lamb sirloin while the pickled red onion, green pepper, cilantro, and salted chilies all help to brighten up the sandwich. 

Crispy Pork Belly

I loved the crispy pork belly, another "must-order" dish! The acidity from the pickled red onion with the creaminess from the star anise tomato sauce hold their own but complement nicely with the savoury richness from the crispy pork belly. If you enjoy a fiery kick to your food, drizzle some of the hot chili oil, the only condiment on the table and the perfect flavour boost.

Bao Bei's fashionable patrons, electric atmosphere and expertly composed touches of Tannis' vintage family photos and modern furnishings keep this eatery busy day after day. It's worth the trek and the wait time for your table to experience Bao Bei's new world of food fusion in Old Chinatown.

Visit Candice's Cusina for more food photos from Bao Bei, www.candicescusina.blogspot.com.

Bao Bei Chinese Brasserie

163 Keefer Street, Vancouver

604-688-0876

www.bao-bei.ca

No reservations, Monday-Saturday 5:30 pm - Midnight

Candice's Recommendations:

Bean Curd Skin $4; Beef Tartare $14; Steamed Fish $18; Shao Bing $12; Crispy Pork Belly $16.