By Dean Aubrey Caratiquet
Rice—widely considered as the country’s staple grain, has become a staple of the country’s culinary landscape through various recipes making use of it as the main ingredient.
This is exemplified by three Filipino culinary wonders that have earned top marks among the 100 best porridges in the world by Taste Atlas, a food and travel website.
At 2nd place is the Arroz Caldo, a Filipino twist on congee which was adopted to suit the palate of the Spanish community during colonial times. This rice porridge is cooked in a ginger-infused broth with shredded chicken as its protein and served with various accompaniments and seasonings.
In 10th place is Lugaw, a Filipino rice porridge similar to Arroz Caldo and is a Filipino breakfast or snack staple. It is a soft food that is usually served with meat or offals as its protein, ginger, garlic bits, hard boiled eggs, local lemon (calamansi) or fish sauce.
The trifecta of world-renowned Filipino porridges is capped off by Champorado at the 20th spot. It is made from cooked glutinous rice blended with sugar and cocoa powder, which is often consumed with a drizzle of condensed milk or bits of salted dry fish.
Among the porridges that topped the charts were Indonesia’s Bubur ayam, Georgia’s Elarji, Ukraine’s Banosh, Vietnam’s Three Color Dessert, U.S.A. ‘s Shrimp and Grits, and Egypt’s Bissara.
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