Weather conditions trigger memories; on rainy days, these are flashbacks of happy days and simple food shared with loved ones.

For Filipinos, the number one comfort food is lugaw (rice soup) in many forms: Arroz Caldo with chicken or goto (beef tripe), champurado and ginatan (sweetened rice porridge with coconut cream).

All these favorites start with the basic pot of lugaw: rice simmered in water or stock until the grains fluff and fall apart.

Use the Best Rice – The first rule is: use the best rice available; this is not the time to scrimp. Newly-harvested rice is preferred for the aroma and soft texture of the grains.

The two most common rice varieties in the market are bigas, or the kind used for steamed table rice, and malagkit, often marketed as sweet rice, which produces sticky grains after cooking.

Some cooks prefer a mix of half-bigas with half-malagkit, claiming that lugaw from pure malagkit loses all texture and becomes as smooth as paste after a long simmer. No matter what the ratio of the rice is, tradition recommends that the rice be soaked in water for at least an hour before cooking, to pre-tenderize the surface before the long simmer.

Choose the Right Pot – The old generations used only clay pots when making rice porridge; thick metal pots resorted to by today���s city folk are just as good. Thin aluminum stock pots should be avoided as they produce scorched rice crusts that turn the soups bitter.

Crockpots and electric rice cookers may also be employed, but the recipes need adjustments to prevent kitchen disasters particularly the soup boiling over and spilling.

Patience, Patience – Do not make lugaw while watching the latest episode of CSI or NCIS; your full attention is crucial.

To start, place rice (1 cup) and water (6 cups) in an uncovered thick pot over high heat; turn the heat down to very low as soon as it boils. While maintaining the low temperature, mix constantly in order that the rice does not form a bottom crust. Keep adding water as the broth thickens. The lugaw should be ready to serve in an hour or so. Turn off the heat and cover; the soup will continue to cook and thicken.

Champurado – Mix 1/4 cup cocoa powder and1/2 cup sugar; very slowly stir in 1 cup of water until dissolved. Add the mixture to the cooked lugaw and stir well until evenly distributed. Pour in evaporated milk and more sugar to taste.

In the provinces, pure coconut milk is used instead of evaporated milk; in the cities, a can of condensed milk is offered at the table with the champurado to make it even richer.

When eaten instead of steamed rice for breakfast, champurado is enjoyed with broiled or fried salted fish such as tuyo (herring), dilis (anchovy) and daing (kippered mackerel).

Ginatang Mais – To cooked plain lugaw, add scraped kernels of fresh sweet corn. Alternatively, canned corn may be used; cream-style or whole kernels are both suitable. Enrich the broth with either pure coconut milk or evaporated milk, and sweeten with sugar. A few leaves of pandan add a pleasant, subtle fragrance.

Arroz Caldo – Stir-fry in a little oil on medium heat: crushed garlic with sliced onions and smashed ginger until aromatic. Turn up heat and add bite-size fresh chicken, add salt and a pinch of kasubha (local saffron) and continue stir-frying until the meat turns opaque and the oil is tinged yellow by the kasubha. Slowly add a cup of water, turn down heat and simmer while scraping the bottom and sides of the pan.

all into the pot of lugaw, mix well, cover and simmer 15 minutes. A boullion cube or a teaspoon of chicken powder may be added for richer chicken flavour. Add salt to taste.

Serve topped with fried garlic and minced green onions. Offer calamansi and local soy sauce on the side.

Crushed crispy chicharon skin is a very recently-introduced topping. To turn into a complete meal, slip in some sliced hard-boiled eggs.

Goto – Similar to the recipe for arroz caldo. Stir-fry crushed garlic, sliced onions, smashed ginger and kasubha in a little oil over medium heat. Add sliced, pre-cooked tripe (goto) and 2 cups of broth in which the tripe was boiled. Pour all into the lugaw, cover and simmer for 20 minutes to blend flavors.

Serve topped with fried garlic and minced onion leaves. Diners are given a choice of calamansi, chilli peppers and local soy sauce for individual final seasoning.

For more protein, this is normally served with fried tofu on the side, seasoned with garlic, soy sauce and vinegar.

• 300 grams chicken (preferrably thigh, legs, or rib parts), chopped to medium sizes
• 1 1/2 cups of sticky rice (glutinous rice)
• 1/2 cup regular rice
• 2 tbsp cooking oil for sauteing
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 medium sized onion, sliced
• A fraction of a ginger (about 1.5- 2 inches), chopped
• 6-8 cups of distilled water
• Thai or Pinoy fish sauce
• salt (optional) and pepper 
• 2-3 tbsp shallot, chopped, for garnishing
• 2 medium sized eggs
• dried chilis (optional)
• toasted garlic (optional)
• pork or chicken cracklings (optional)
• 1 chicken buillon cube (optional)
• calamansi or key lime (as condiments)

Procedure

• Saute garlic, onions, and ginger. Add the chicken. Season with some fish sauce, salt and pepper. Cover for 2 minutes, and occasionaly turn the chicken parts to cook everything throughly.
• Add in the glutinous rice and keep stirring. Lower the heat, then add a cup of water, and keep stirring and cook it just like how you do with risotto, only with more water. Then add the regular rice and keep stirring to avoid the rice from sticking to the bottom and to the sides of the pan.