Filipino Arroz Caldo with Turkey or Chicken

• 1. The day after Thanksgiving: In a large stockpot boil the carcass of the leftover turkey in water. Make sure there is enough liquid to cover meat and bones. Add the chopped celery, onions, salt and black pepper.

  Cover the stockpot. Bring to a boil in about 10 minutes, then simmer till meat is falling off bone and broth is aromatic and flavorful, for about 1 to 2 hours. The larger the turkey carcass the longer it will take.

  When done, save the broth to make the arroz caldo. Remove the turkey meat from the bones and cut into bite-sized chunks. * Make this process of boiling the leftover turkey in a slow cooker or Instant Pot pressure cooker if that is more convenient.
• 2. To make the Arroz Caldo: Use a large stockpot (or use the same empty pot where the turkey stock was cooked in). Over medium high heat, pour the vegetable oil. Saute the garlic, onions, ginger for a minute. Then add fish sauce. Add the rice grains. Stir around for 2 minutes till rice becomes puffy.
• 3. Add the broths to the pot of rice sauté. Blend well. Cover the stockpot. When the entire soup and rice combination boils in about 5 minutes, lower heat to a slow simmer. Add the leftover turkey chunks and black peppercorns. Maintain the heat to a slow simmer. Stir well to avoid rice sticking in the bottom.
• 4. Cover and continue cooking rice porridge over low heat . Rice will be completely cooked after about 18 minutes. You will have about 4 cups of cooked rice by the end of cooking. The amount of soup broth should be about 10 cups. Add more broth if desired. Season with salt and black pepper powder. Make sure to stir rice every now and then so it does not stick to bottom of the pot.
• 5. To serve: Pour in individual soup bowls. Place the turkey chunks on top. Sprinkle lemon juice on the arroz caldo. Garnish with slices of hard-boiled eggs, sliced scallions and crisp fried garlic bits. Serve piping hot.
• COOK'S COMMENTS: In the Philippines, calamansi (the Filipino lime) is sprinkled over the arroz caldo. If calamansi is available to you, feel free to use it instead of lemon. Sometimes, if we have leftover corn from Thanksgiving, I add cooked corn kernels to the arroz caldo and that makes it even more delightful. On other occasions, feel free to use chicken for this recipe which is the traditional basic ingredient for Filipinos.
• When cooking with Chicken : Traditionally, Arroz Caldo consists of boiled chicken meat. If you want to do that recipe, boil half a pound of chicken in a pot filled with water, and the amount of onions and celery indicated above to boil the turkey carcass. Boil then simmer till chicken is tender for 55 minutes to an hour. Chop the chicken meat into small pieces. Cook the Arroz Caldo according to directions above, substituting the chicken for the turkey. Serve hot with the same garnishings. Or follow a previous recipe for Chicken Arroz Caldo from a past blog post here.
• Instant Pot Arroz Caldo: A recipe for Instant Pot Arroz Caldo with Chicken is in my newest cookbook "Instant Filipino Recipes: My Mother's Traditional Philippine Food in A Multicooker Pot" sold worldwide on Amazon.com in paperback or Kindle format. I share traditional Filipino food, recipes from my mother which can be cooked in an Instant Pot or any multicooker brand. Click here to purchase.

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