Champorado (Filipino Chocolate Rice Porridge) is Your Best Bet for a Sweet Breakfast

The ultimate comfort food of Filipinos for any occasion.

Chocolate is the universal comfort food that humans are always eager to get their hands on when the week gets rough. It is literally a happy drug that makes life happenings tolerable. After all, the superfood produced from the seeds of Theobroma cacao tree has shown to boost mood and cognitive functions. The compounds found in chocolate increase the production of serotonin which relieves symptoms of depression and anxiety. This explains why we immediately think of getting a hot chocolate drink when we want to cozy up at home and find our peace.

In a recent survey, 7 percent of 2,252 American adults rated chocolate as their preferred go-to comfort food at a distant second place as 15 percent voted pizza as their first choice. 53 percent of Americans say they dig in when stressed, and 67 percent grab their comfort food as a pick-me-up. Still, 90 percent of Americans interviewed prefer to cook meals at home. What if there’s a way to enjoy home-cooked comfort food while avoiding the greasy pizza takeout?

For generations, Champorado or Filipino chocolate rice porridge has been the traditional comfort food and a pick-me-up of Filipinos for any occasion. On regular days, especially during the rainy season, champorado is a delightful bowl of a sweet treat to have in the morning to keep you warm and satiated—thanks to glutinous (sticky, not containing gluten) rice, a type of short-grain rice with high starch content. During holidays, children find joy in a serving of chocolate porridge drizzled with generous amounts of evaporated milk. For the adults, the experience is never complete without some dried fish as a salty side dish to balance out the sweetness of the cacao tablea.

To Filipinos, the sight of champorado signifies affectionate relationships and magnifies warm feelings during holidays and special occasions. To some of us, well…who wouldn’t love to experience the fuzzy feeling one might associate with comfort food? This 30-minute champorado recipe from The Little Epicurean is a tale to tell of how a bowl of rice porridge can bring so much comfort and peace to your day.

Ingredients (serves six persons)

• 1 cup glutinous rice, rinsed and drained
• 6 cups water
• pinch fine sea salt
• ¼ cup dutch processed unsweetened cocoa powder as an alternative (traditionally, tablea or unsweetened cacao tablets are used)
• 3 oz (85 g) 90% dark chocolate, roughly chopped
• ¼ cup dark brown sugar, packed

Choices for toppings:

• sweetened condensed milk
• evaporated milk
• almond milk, coconut milk, etc.
• cacao nibs
• dried fish (tuyo), usually herring

Instructions

1. Put rice, water, and salt in a heavy bottom saucepot over medium to high heat. Bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to a simmer. Gently stir the rice every 3 minutes or so. Do not cover and continue to heat for 15 to 20 minutes until rice is well-cooked. Porridge should feel thick.
3. Add cocoa powder, chopped chocolate, and brown sugar. Stir to combine over low heat until chocolate and sugar have melted.
4. Remove from heat. Serve the chocolate rice porridge while warm or chilled. For the best experience, top with milk, cocoa bits, or dried fish.