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THE RECENT talk of the town was the viral “lugaw is essential” mishap, wherein some local government officials prohibited a food delivery rider from delivering glutinous rice porridge due to the curfew. Inspired by all the discussion around lugaw, the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) Culinary Cluster came up with the idea of a Lugaw Challenge, which tasked 10 culinary experts from the School of Hotel, Restaurant, and Institution Management to give their own twist on this favorite Filipino comfort food.

It started when Benilde Culinary Program Chairperson Chef Margarita Marty posted a photo of her enjoying lugaw on social media. “Several faculty members commented that I only eat sosyal na lugaw (fancy lugaw) but this is not true. I often have it for meals,” she recalled. “This continued on until we decided to have a challenge.”

“This is our own little way of supporting the struggling restaurant industry and the riders,” said Ms. Marty.

In two days, the friendly banter ended with an array of mouthwatering recipes seamlessly blended with a variety of rich international flavors. As a nod to Japanese cuisine, chef Erica Aquino’s Miso Shiitake Lugaw comes with miso glazed chicken, spicy pickled wood ear mushrooms, nori flakes, ramen egg and sesame chili oil, while chef Veronica Reyes presented her Laksa Lugaw, made of creamy and fragrant seafood broth topped with poached prawns, fried tofu and soft-boiled egg.

India comes closer to home with chef Kannan Jayaprakash Sreedevi’s Indian-style Lugaw with monggo and coconut. Chef Joel Espiritu Erfe’s Xiao Loo Gaw is a saffron mushroom congee in a pouch with a side of bean sprout salad, crispy pork ears, tofu, poached egg and a mildly spicy calamansi soy dressing. Chef Jade Christopher Marquez Lee merges sous vide egg, crispy pancetta, toasted walnuts and rosemary oil in his Adlai and Wild Mushroom Lugaw. Meanwhile, chef Mike Silbor brings a dash of France in his Prawn Bisque Lugaw of prawn reduction, pan-seared river prawns, beurre noisette and crispy fried leeks.

Chef Roselle Sison-Pangalilingan came up with a Warm Vanilla Cinnamon Spiced Tres Leches Lugaw with Raspberry and Goji Berry Compote, and chef Zemir Herrera-Rollan developed an Oatmeal Curry Lugaw with hard-boiled egg, fried tofu, shredded chicken, toasted garlic and leeks.

In his Lugaw tayo kai-Vegan, chef Jester Arellano uses brown rice, vegetable broth, saffron, and calamansi vinaigrette topped off with shiitake mushrooms, bokchoy, carrots, kangkong (swamp cabbage), malunggay (moringa), and chia seeds.

Completing the set is Ms. Marty’s Lugaw ni Señora, headlined by chorizos (Spanish sausage)and crispy jamones (ham) served with quail eggs, leeks and crunchy garlic.

Through different variations — simple or elaborate — the mighty lugaw remains to be an essential good, especially during this pandemic.

Below are three of the recipes the chefs developed.

LAKSA LUGAW
Recipe by: Veronica Reyes, DLS-CSB Part-time Faculty on Principles of Food Production, Menu Planning Laboratory and Asian Cuisine Laboratory

“The inspiration is the delicacy laksa, but instead of noodles, I utilized glutinous rice. Given that I was exposed to Singaporean cuisine and laksa being my favorite [dish], I have decided to convert it into one of my favorite Filipino dishes — lugaw. Best of both worlds!”

For the recipe I made it the traditional way, because as the saying goes, why fix something it if it ain’t broke!

Shrimp stock:

1.5 kg shrimp heads

1 whole onion, quartered

5 pcs curry leaves

3 pcs Kaffir Lime leaf

3 L water

50 ml Vegetable oil

Laksa paste:

50 gm Ginger

30 gm Turmeric, fresh

50 gm Lemon grass

50 gm Garlic

10 gm Dried Chili

80 gm Onion, red

20 gm Dried Shrimp (hibe)

50 gm Cashew nuts

30 ml Vegetable oil

Soup base:

500 gm Malagkit Rice

1L Shrimp stock

150 mL Coconut Cream

3 pcs Kaffir Lime leaf

30 ml Fish Sauce

15 gm White Sugar

1 Kaffir Lime Zest and Juice

50 ml Vegetable oil

1. To make the stock, sauté the shrimp heads with the vegetable oil. When it turns red in color, add in the rest of the ingredients except the water. Keep on stirring for 5 more minutes. Add the water then bring to a boil. Then skim off the scum from the surface then lower down the heat to simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours.

2. For the paste, chop all the ingredients fairly small. Put everything in a blender or food processor with the vegetable oil. Blend until it becomes a paste.

3. In a large sauce pot, place in the vegetable oil. Sauté the laksa paste until it becomes fragrant, for about 10 minutes.

4. Add in the malagkit rice and sauté for another 10 minutes. Pour in the shrimp stock. Continuously stir for another 5 minutes to ensure that the rice doesn’t stick at the bottom.

5. Add in the Kaffir Lime leaves and fish sauce. Simmer until the rice is cooked. Stir occasionally to make sure the rice doesn’t clump together.

6. Add in the sugar and the zest and juice of the Kaffir Lime.

7. You may poach the prawns and balls in the prawn stock for more flavor.

8. You may now assemble your laksa lugaw by ladling the finished product in a bowl and topped with the fried tofu, prawns, balls and soft boiled egg. Consume while warm.

LUGAW NI SEÑORA
Recipe by: Margarita Marty, DLS-CSB Culinary Program Chairperson

“I was raised in a home strongly influenced by my grandmothers Gloria Mapua Lim and Nena Grey Marty, both excellent cooks. As early as the age of nine, I assisted Lola Gloria in the kitchen and learned how to cook congee. Lola Nena’s culinary influence came in my 20s while I was starting out in my career, for she used chorizo (Spanish sausage) in so many dishes.

I tapped my kitchen memories with my grandmothers and exposure to Spanish ingredients – slow cooked rice came from congee, while chorizo, jamon and boiled quail egg were the natural topping for this hearty lugaw.”

Ingredients:

4 cups chicken stock

1 tsp olive oil

¼ cup onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

250 gm Japanese rice

1 pinch of Saffron thread

Salt and Pepper to taste

Toppings:

2 pcs Molinera Spanish Chorizo

6 pcs Santis Snack Chorizo

12 quail eggs (hard boiled)

4 jamon, thinly sliced

1 tbsp Daddy Mikk’s Crunchy Garlic

2 pcs green onion, chopped

1 whole lime

Lugaw:

1. Crush a pinch of salt and saffron in a mortar and pestle to make fine powder. Add 1 tbsp of warm water and allow to soak for a few minutes.

2. Heat olive oil in a cast iron pot over medium heat.

3. Add garlic and onions. Cook until onions are translucent.

4. Add Japanese rice and allow rice to toast.

5. Add the saffron mixture and mix well.

6. Add one cup of water, stirring it constantly, allowing the rice to fully absorb the water.

7. Add the rest of the stock. Bring to a boil and reduce heat allow it to simmer on low heat.

8. Season with salt and pepper as needed

Note: you may need to add stock if the lugaw gets too thick.

Toppings:

1. In a small pan, sauté 2 pcs Molinera Spanish Chorizo to make a crumble.

2. Slice 6 pcs Santis Snack Chorizo. Pan fry in a little olive oil

3. Cut the ham into 2 inch squares. Lay flat on a baking sheet and bake in the toaster oven for 5-7 minutes.

4. Slice the quail eggs in half

When everything is ready, get your most señora-like bowls and ladle the lugaw into the bowls. Top with the two kinds of chorizo, crunchy jamon, quail eggs, Daddy Mikk’s Crunchy Garlic, chopped green onion and drizzle with a bit of chorizo oil. Serve with a slice of lime.

Recipe is good for four servings

PRAWN BISQUE LUGAW
Recipe by: Chef Mike Silbor, DLS-CSB Professor-Lecturer on Principles of Food Production and Menu Planning, Seafood Cookery, Professional Cooking and Filipino Cuisine

“To my knowledge, this type of lugaw has never been done before, for it fuses ingredients and procedures from two very different cuisines. However, despite the dish sounding or looking complicated, it is actually simple to execute. I believe this is the most important aspect of this dish, as it stays within the realm of accessibility and relative affordability.”

Ingredients:

Shrimp Stock:

150-200 gm Prawn Shells/Heads

100 gm White Onion, small

50 gm Carrots/Carrot peel

50 g Leeks

30 gm Celery

1 tsp Thyme, Dried or fresh

1 tsp Tarragon, Dried or fresh

Salt to season

1 tbs Black peppercorn

100 gm Tomatoes/canned tomatoes

Water or Chicken Stock, depends on amount of vegetables and shells used

2 tbs Butter

1 tbs Canola Oil

Lugaw:

3-5 pcs Prawns, U15 — U20, butterflied and deveined

50 gm White Onions, brunoise (finely diced)

10 gm Garlic, brunoise

¼ cup Rice

1 cup Prawn Stock

2 tbs Butter

2 tbs each Leeks, green and white part, julienne

Canola Oil, canola

1 pc Lemon or lime wedge

Shrimp Stock:

1. Cut onion, carrots and celery for a mirepoix  (a flavor base made from diced vegetables cooked — usually with butter, oil, or other fat — for a long time on low heat without coloring or browning). Quarter the tomatoes.

2. Roast prawn heads and shells in a pan with oil and butter. Season to taste.

3. Once roasted, add vegetables and 2 to 3 tbs of water/stock to the pan. Sauté the vegetables while deglazing the pan.

4. Once vegetables are lightly colored, add herbs and tomatoes and cook down until tomatoes are soft and mushy. Season to taste.

5. Add enough stock to submerge all the ingredients.

6. Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer for 30 minutes.

7. Cool down for 30 minutes in an ice bath.

8. Blend everything and strain.

9. Cool down again and keep chilled.

Lugaw:

1. Melt butter and sauté onions until translucent. Add garlic. Sauté further on low heat for 3-4 minutes.

2. Add rice and toss in the mixture until all the grains are coated. Season to taste.

3. Add 1 ladle of stock and bring to a simmer. Once absorbed by the rice, add another ladle of stock.

4. Repeat this process three times.

5. Add in half of the remaining stock to the rice and mix well. Bring to a simmer and don’t cover. Stir occasionally to check that nothing is sticking to the bottom.

6. If the mixture gets too dry, add more stock or water.

7. Once rice is cooked, check seasoning and keep warm.

Garnish Prep: Beurre Noisette

1. Melt butter in a small pot or pan.

2. On low heat, continue to cook butter until the milk solids split from the fat and turn brown.

3. Once brown, transfer the fat part in a small bowl and set aside.

Garnish Prep: Crispy Leeks (optional)

1. Heat up oil for shallow frying.

2. Once hot around 375 degrees centigrade, fry the leeks just before they start to brown.

3. Once fried, drain immediately and blot with paper towels. Try to separate the leeks to help with crisping while paper absorbs excess oil.

Garnish Prep: Prawns

1. Take some beurre noisette and heat up with some canola oil.

2. Season and sear prawns until cooked. Keep warm.

Assembly:

1. Transfer lugaw to a bowl.

2. Top with 3 to 5 pieces of prawns.

3. Drizzle with beurre noisette.

4. Top with leeks and lemon wedge.