Arroz Caldo
Super garlicy congee soup. We make this every time someone gets a cold in our house. Based on the Serious Eats recipe by Joshua Bousel.
Ingredients
1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken (thighs or breasts) 12 cloves of garlic 1 inch knob of ginger 1 medium yellow or white onion 5 cups chicken stock 2 limes 1 cup of rice or 1.5-2 cups cooked rice 2-4 eggs A bit of herbs for garnish (scallion, cilantro, chives).
Instructions
Mince 12 cloves of garlic, a 1 inch piece of ginger, and chop an onion. get 1 cup of jasmine rice or 1.5-2 cups of day old rice. if medium boiling eggs, take them out of the fridge now.
Salt and pepper the chicken breasts or thighs. Saute boneless skinless chicken (thighs ideal, breast is fine, around 1.5 lb) in a couple tbsp of neutral oil on medium high heat to brown in a pot. Place them in the pan and don't touch them until you flip, just a couple of minutes on each side (they will still be a little raw in the middle, this is fine). Remove chicken from pot and place on a cutting board; let cool. Reduce the heat and add in onion for a few minutes. Once soft but not brown add the ginger, garlic, and cracked pepper and sweat those for a minute. Add in the rice and lightly fry for maybe 3 minutes.
Add in 5 cups of chicken stock and ~1 tbsp fish sauce and bring to a boil. Scrape any brown bits off the bottom of the pot. Meanwhile cut the chicken into 1 inch pieces and add back to pot. Simmer for about 30 minutes, enough to break down the rice and reduce the liquid by quite a bit so that it's a very thick soup.
While simmering, medium boil a couple eggs. The very abridged version: boil water with pinch of salt, lower in the eggs you pulled out earlier and increase heat to maintain a bare simmer. Cook for exactly 7 minutes (use a timer). Fill a bowl with cool tap water. Remove eggs from pan with slotted spoon and place in the bowl of cool water. if the water start getting hot, drain and refill. Peel the egg under water.
After 30 minutes, stir in juice from 2 limes and taste to see if you need more salt. If the soup is too thick add in some more stock or water Serve and garnish with scallion, crispy garlic if you weren't lazy, sliced medium boiled egg, soy souce, chili oil.