How to Cook Lugaw

Method One: Plain Lugaw

Clean the rice. Rinse both the glutinous (sticky) rice and long-grained rice in cool, clean water. Drain the water when done. Pour the rice into a large glass bowl and add roughly three times as much water to the bowl. Use your hands to move the rice around the bowl while it is still submerged under the water. Pour the contents of the bowl through a fine-mesh colander. Discard the water and save the rice.

Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan. Pour the cooking oil into a medium saucepan with tall sides and a heavy bottom. Set the saucepan on the stove over medium heat. Allow the oil to heat up for 30 to 60 seconds before proceeding.

Sauté the garlic and ginger. Add the minced garlic and sliced ginger to the hot oil. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 2 minutes. The two ingredients should become lightly toasted and notably fragrant during this time. Watch the garlic and ginger closely to prevent them from burning.

Add the rice and stock. Place the rinsed rice in the saucepan and pour the stock on top. Stir well to combine. Scrape the bottom and sides of the pot as you stir its contents. Doing so will minimize the risk of rice sticking to the pan. Most lugaw recipes use homemade stock, but a high-quality commercial broth can offer just as much flavor. Some cooks even prefer to use plain water instead of stock or broth, but doing so will create a much blander taste.

Season with fish sauce and pepper. If you want to season the lugaw, you should add any desired fish sauce (Patis) and black pepper now. This step is only optional. You do not need to add either seasoning to the dish. If you aren't sure how much to use, start by adding 1/4 tsp (1.25 ml) pepper and 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) fish paste. You can add more throughout the process as desired to suit your tastes.

Simmer for 60 minutes. Bring the lugaw to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 30 to 60 minutes, or until the grains of rice become notably puffy. The overall texture of the dish should be very thick when finished. Stir the contents of the saucepan frequently during the cooking process. Doing so causes the rice to release more starch, thereby creating a thicker lugaw. If the contents of the saucepan look too thick before the rice has fully expanded, you can add more broth. Add additional broth in 1/2 cup (125 ml) measurements. You can taste test the lugaw as it cooks, too, adding more pepper or fish paste as needed.

Serve hot. Once the lugaw is ready, remove it from the heat and immediately ladle it into serving dishes. Enjoy this dish while it is still steaming hot. If desired, you may want to garnish each serving with roughly 1 Tbsp (15 ml) of rousong or crispy "pork floss." If pork floss does not appeal to you, consider garnishing each portion with a little chopped green onion.

Method Two: Chicken Lugaw

Rinse the rice. Clean all of the rice used for this recipe by quickly rinsing it in cool, clean water. Drain the water and save only the rice. To rinse the rice, pour it into a large glass bowl and cover it with three times as much water. Use your hands to gently move and scrub the rice while it is submerged. Pour the rice and water through a fine mesh colander to drain it. Set the rice aside until needed.

Heat the oil. Pour the vegetable oil into a large stockpot with a heavy bottom. Set it over medium heat on the stove. Give the oil 30 to 60 seconds to heat up before continuing.

Sauté the garlic, onion, and ginger. Toss the minced garlic, diced onion, and sliced ginger into the hot oil. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 2 minutes. The three ingredients should become lightly toasted and very fragrant. Temporarily remove these three ingredients from the pot after you've released their flavors into the oil. Place them in a separate dish and set them aside.

Add the chicken and 1/4 cup (60 ml) water. Place the cut up chicken in the same stockpot and no more than 1/4 cup (60 ml) of water. Cover and cook over medium-high heat for 5 to 10 minutes. Occasionally stir the contents of the stockpot during this step to prevent the chicken from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Continue cooking until the chicken has released enough liquid to produce an approximate total of 1 cup (250 ml) liquid at the bottom of the stockpot.

Return the seasonings and add the sauces. Toss the previously sauteed ginger, onion, and garlic back into the stockpot. Add the soy sauce and fish sauce, as well. Stir everything together to distribute the flavors more evenly. Cook on medium-high for another 2 minutes.

Pour more water into the pot. Add the remaining water to the stockpot. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. The chicken pieces must be completely submerged in liquid. After you reduce the heat, the liquid should still continue at a gentle simmer.

Simmer for 2 hours. Cover the stockpot and simmer over low to medium-low heat for 2 hours. Taste test the liquid after you've finished simmering it. If necessary, add more fish sauce or soy sauce to suit your personal flavor preferences.

Let the chicken cool. Use tongs or a slotted spoon to remove the chicken pieces from the stockpot. Set them aside in a separate bowl, allowing them to cool to the touch. When you remove the chicken, take as little liquid as possible with it.

Add the rice and simmer for 40 minutes. Pour the clean rice into the stockpot of liquid. Mix well, then increase the heat to medium and simmer for 20 to 40 minutes. The grains of rice should become puffy and the porridge should thicken up. If the lugaw becomes too thick during this time, you can add more water. Add extra water to the porridge 1/2 cup (125 ml) at a time.

Shred the chicken. While the rice porridge simmers, use two forks to shred the cooked chicken off its bones. Reserve the chicken meat and discard the bones. The chicken should be relatively easy to shred at this point since it has cooked for such a long time.

Toss the chicken back into the pot. When the lugaw reaches your desired thickness, add the shredded chicken. Mix well to spread the chicken pieces throughout the entire dish. You should be able to add the entire shredded chicken, but if you want your lugaw to have less chicken in it, you can add a smaller portion of shredded chicken and save the rest for another use.

Serve hot. Ladle the finished lugaw into individual serving bowls and enjoy while it is still hot. Chicken lugaw is usually served with slices of hard boiled egg, a sprinkling of minced green onion, and a squeeze of fresh lime juice. All of these garnishes are only optional, however.