It’s funny what we associate with some foods; just like Arroz Caldong Manok. To me it’s comfort food when one is sick much like Chicken Soup is to the Americans. Nowadays, it’s part of the afternoon snack (merienda). To make the broth very tasty, the use of native or organic chicken is advisable. When we used to live on the farm, we had native chickens that were raised just for that purpose. I don’t see myself slitting the jugular vein of the chicken nowadays, but back then I surely did if I wanted to serve Arroz Caldong Manok. Ingredients: 4 pieces chicken thigh fillets – cut into 1-inch cubes (you can also use one whole chicken cut into serving pieces) 1 cup onion, sliced thinly 3 tablespoons garlic – well crushed reserving 1 tablespoon for garnish 2 teaspoons sliced ginger – julienne 2 tablespoons patis – fish sauce 2 tablespoons spring onion – chopped fine for garnish 1 tablespoon toasted garlic for garnish ¼ cup glutinous rice (malagkit) ¼ cup long grain or short grain rice ¼ cup cooking oil ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 6 cups chicken broth or water   Procedure: In a small frying pan, pour in cooking oil and place over low fire. Sauté the 3 tablespoons crushed garlic until a very light golden brown. Remove from fire and set aside the 1 tablespoon garlic for garnish; and remove the other garlic together with the oil. In same frying pan with just the residue of the oil where the garlic was cooked, pan fry the two rice (sticky and normal) until the rice become fragrant. Remove from fire and set aside. In a 8 cup saucepan, over medium fire, place the garlic with oil and the onions and sauté till the onions are wilted. Add the ginger and patis and continue to sauté for 1 minute. The add the chicken pieces and continue to sauté for 3 minutes. Pour in the chicken broth or water and bring to a boil then turn down fire to low. Simmer for 20 minutes then add the roasted rice. Continue to simmer till the rice is cooked and has thickened the soup; around 15 to 20 minutes. Add ground pepper, salt or patis to taste. Garnish with fried garlic and fresh spring onion and...