Of Champorado

Hmmm...champorado. It's definitely the one dish that just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. What is it? Filipino chocolate rice. Ok, ok...technically, it comes from Mexico, brought to the Philippines by galleon trade. In case you were wondering what the galleon trade is, it's trade route between Acapulco, Mexico and Manila, Philippines back when both countries were Spanish colonies. People back then traded spices, silk, porcelain, and, most importantly, recipes. 

Yummy Champorado

Make no mistake though, that Mexican champurrado is very different from Filipino champorado (also spelled as tsamporado, since the Tagalog language doesn't actually have the leter 'c' in it). Mexican champurrado, according to Wikipedia, is actually Mexican hot chocolate. Filipino tsamporado, on the other hand, is warm, chocolatey rice porridge. Traditionally, it's cooked with glutinous rice (short grained, sticky rice) but you can also use left over white rice (that's what I used). It gets its chocolate flavor from Filipino chocolate tablets or tablea, which has a more intense chocolate flavor since it is made from pure cacao nibs which were roasted and grounded into a paste and hardened into tablets. The chocolately rice is then sweetened with brown sugar, preferably muscovado and served with a dash of evaporated milk. 

Tablea

Tsamporado is perfect for cold weather or whenever you're down. Chocolate can wash any the blues, right? Champorado can also be eaten for breakfast. If you plan on doing this, don't forget the tuyo! That's salty dried fish. You can also (and I love doing this) refrigerate it until it's cold and eat it like chocolate rice pudding. Yum!

Champorado

2 cups left over white rice

5 cups plus more if needed, water

3 tablepoon muscovado sugar

2 tableas

evaporated milk to serve

In a dutch oven or a large pot, add the rice and 4 cups water. Place the pot over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once boiling, add the tableas. Stir until the tableas have broken down and combined with the rice and water mixture. Cook until the rice and the water mixture have formed a thick soup that is slightly smooth. If there's too little water, add more as needed. Stir in the sugar. Pour into bowls and drizzle evaporated milk on the top.

Note:

• If you plan on using glutinous rice, use more water. I suggest a 1:5 rice-water ratio. 
• You can also use cocoa powder instead of tablea. It'll have a slightly different flavor, but it'll still be good. Beware though, if you use dark chocolate powder, you will have an extremely dark champorado, and not the traditional lighter brown color. I know, coz I've tried this.

Of Oatmeal Power Breakfasts

Breakfast, the most important meal of the day...or so they say. Breakfast should be filling, energizing and oh so delicious. Breakfast is also never complete without oatmeal, at least that's what my mom says. I totally disagree with her on this count, but I have to admit that I do love oatmeal breakfasts. Besides it's neutral taste (at least for me) that I can spruce up any way I want, oatmeal is also loaded with fibers and complex carbohydrates. This means that you stay full longer, which would be a plus if you're trying to lose weight. Oatmeal also has beta-glucans (a type of polysaccharide) which is may lower cholesterol. (I tried reading about it, but I'm still trying to understand the mechanism, so I'll be conservative and use the word "may" instead of the word "can". If anyone has a more detailed study about this, please let me know.)

Today's breakfast was inspired by this post from thekitchn.com. It was a breakfast of Baked Pumpkin Steel Cut Oatmeal. Now, I don't really keep pumpkin puree in the house. In fact, my family doesn't really eat pumpkin. We love squash though, but mostly the kind found in South East Asia. Anyway, the recipe made me think of other ways to spice up my usual oatmeal. When I was a kid, I would usually sprinkle it with sugar and Milo (the chocolate and malt drink made by Nestle), but since I'm older now, I wanted something more adult. That's how I came up with this recipe:

Banana Oatmeal Power Breakfast

1 cup Rolled oats

3 cups water (or milk)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 tablespoon brown or muscovado sugar

1 very ripe banana

Raisins or any dried fruit

Cook the rolled oats in water. Once cooked, added the cinnamon, the nutmeg and the banana. Mix until combined then take the mixture off the heat. Pour into bowls and top with the raisins.

The recipe above usually works for two to three people, and the other great thing about it is that you can actually use leftover oatmeal. That's actually what I did. Instead of having to cook the rolled oats, I simply poured the leftover oatmeal into a saucepan and added 1/2 cup milk and proceeded with the recipe as indicated. So, the next time you have leftover oatmeal, be sure to refrigerate it. You'll never know when you're going to spice it up.

Oh, if you ever wondered about the difference between rolled oats and instant oats and steel cut oats, here's another page on thekitchn.com that's very helpful:

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/noodles-pasta-and-grains/whats-the-difference-steelcut-rolled-and-oldfashioned-oats-138355