In a typical Filipino pantry, you'll find rice. Exactly what kind, you ask?
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| Long-grain VS. Short-grain |
Mainly, we prefer rice that is white as snow, aromatic, and long-grain. It complements the main dishes of meat, poultry or even vegetables. The favorites are Jasmine rice and Milagrosa, and you can tell if the rice grain is fresh just by the strong aroma. If not, you can always add some pandan or screwpine leaves to give the same result.
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| Pandan leaf aroma is distinct and hard to describe, somewhat nutty, reminiscent to fresh hay and definitely pleasant. |
Another favorite is what we call, "malagkit"(pronounced MAH-lag-kit), a short-grain rice that is sticky and starchy when cooked. This goes well for savory dishes like Arroz Caldo and Bringhe and for sweet desserts like Biko, Champorado, Guinataang Monggo and Ginataang Mais. When soaked in water and ground-up, Glutinous rice turns into a type of dough called Galapong. Galapong is used to make Puto, Palitaw, Bibingka.
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| Making Bibingka - a type of rice cake made of rice flour, coconut milk, egg and water. Source: Filipino-food-recipes |
Oh yeah, definitely... Filipinos can not live without rice. Remember that Carpenters here in the Philippines have LOADS of rice for lunch, and very little meat... Hahaha. Gives birth to what we say: "eat like a carpenter" or in our native tongue, "kain-karpintero." Though as much as I love pasta, and cheeseburgers, rice is something I can not go a long time without.
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