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Champorado is a Filipino dish made of sticky rice and cocoa, typically served hot with sugar, milk, or cream. It can be eaten as breakfast, a side dish, or dessert, and can be prepared from scratch or with instant mixes. Meats are often served as a side to balance out the sweetness.
Champorado is both a breakfast and a side dish that originated in the Philippines. The dish is made of sticky rice, which is combined with cocoa to form a porridge. Filipinos typically eat the dish hot, with sugar, milk, or cream poured over it. As fresh milk is not readily available in some parts of the Philippines, the dish may be served with evaporated or condensed milk instead.
Traditionally, champorado is made with blocks of sweet and sour cocoa combined with powdered milk and sugar. The blocks are added to the rice as it cooks, allowing the block to melt and combine with the rice. Outside of the Philippines, cooks without access to blocks could use cocoa powder or even baker’s chocolate as a substitute.
The sticky rice used to make champorado is sometimes called glutinous rice. Unlike other types of rice, brown rice is short-grained and becomes sticky and sweet when cooked. In areas outside the Philippines and Asia, this sticky sweet rice can be found in Asian markets or Asian food sections in grocery stores.
Typically, champorado is served during breakfast in the Philippines. The dish usually makes up the majority if not the entire breakfast meal and is served hot like oatmeal. Cooks could decide to prepare the dish at other times of the day, serving it hot or cold, to be eaten as a side dish or even as a dessert to be eaten after a meal. In some cases, Filipinos eat the dish as an afternoon snack.
Normally a cook prepares the champorado from scratch. In some parts of the world, however, instant mixes are sold in grocery stores. These mixes allow a person to prepare the dish in less time, as the preparation process only involves heating the water and then adding the right amount of the mix.
Side dishes of meats are often served with champorado. Saltfish is the most popular side meat to have with the dish. Other fried or smoked meats are commonly eaten alongside the dish, helping to balance out the sweetness of the porridge.
While preparing the champorado, the cook can change the texture of the dish by adding different amounts of water to the rice. Adding more water causes the rice to expand and stick together more, making the porridge thicker. By mixing less water with the rice, the rice becomes drier and doesn’t stick as well.
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