Here's How To Tell Lugaw, Congee, Goto, and Arroz Caldo From Each Other
If you've been confused by the many names of rice porridge, you're not alone. A lot of cultures around the world have their own version of rice porridge or lugaw. In our country alone, we have many versions of lugaw with different names. Here are just some of the names you may know rice porridge:
Lugaw (rice porridge)
Lugaw is the umbrella term for most rice porridge-style dishes in the Philippines, champorado being an exemption. In essence, lugaw is rice cooked in water until it disintegrates into a thick consistency. The most basic lugaw is simply flavored with patis (fish sauce) and a little ginger and sometimes, contains tenderized pork intestines. Often associated with sick days, lugaw is the nation's comfort food. Garnished with a sprinkle of spring onions and toasted garlic bits, it often also is cooked with a hard-boiled egg and served with tokwa't baboy.
Congee
Here, in the Philippines, you usually find lugaw referred to as congee in Chinese restaurants. There, you would find different variants that use quail egg, century egg, seafood or dumplings. China's history of rice gruel goes back thousands of years. Our lugaw may be inherited from Chinese merchants landing on our shores.Â
Arroz Caldo
When the Spanish came, they gave lugaw another name, "hot rice" or Arroz Caldo while infusing flavor that's more familiar with them. What made it different from our basic lugaw is the prominent ginger flavor and the chicken pieces. Often, it would have a pinch of saffron that colors it to a beautiful yellow. Kasubha is our local version of the pricey saffron, making it easier to replicate the yellow hue that arroz caldo is known to have.
Goto
The actual translation of "goto" is "tripe," referring to the meat used to flavor it, ox tripe. The meticulous cleaning and preparation of ox tripe, a honeycomb textured part of the beef found in the stomach, is what truly makes this variation special. Because of the meat of choice, goto is often known as the beef lugaw.
The way these three different rice porridges have evolved from the simple lugaw is testament to how history can influence us and our food, as they blend into our everyday lives. Just like there are many versions of adobo, so too does the lugaw.Â
The simple bowl of lugaw can tell a story of your life, probably of your mother caring for you while sick and serving lugaw to fill an upset yet empty stomach. It's this connection that makes it comforting, makes it taste like home, makes you want to crave for it-sick or not.
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