Serves 4

Time: 1 hour

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Ingredients:

8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

3 Tbsp neutral oil

2 lbs. chicken thighs (about 4), bone in and skin on

Salt and pepper, to taste

3 green garlic stalks, thinly sliced

¼ cup ramps, sliced

8 morels, sliced

1 inch ginger (about 2 Tbsp), peeled and minced

1 cup uncooked jasmine rice, rinsed

2 quarts chicken stock

3 Tbsp fish sauce, or more to taste

2 Tbsp soy sauce, or more to taste

3 oz stinging nettles leaves

10 ramp leaves

1 jalapeño, stemmed and chopped

¼ cup cold water

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For serving:

Lemon wedges or calamansi

Hard boiled eggs*

Sliced chives

Crispy chicken skins

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Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F

2. In a small pan, over low heat cook sliced garlic in oil until garlic is light brown. About 5-8 minutes. Use tweezers or chopsticks to move garlic around occasionally for even browning. Drain onto a paper towel and season with salt immediately. Set aside.

3. Transfer oil for garlic chips into a pot. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper all over.

4. Place chicken thighs skin side down in the pot. Cook on low until skin has rendered and is slightly crispy. About 10 minutes.

5. Remove chicken from pot. Let chicken cool down slightly and rip off skin. Place the skins on a sheet tray and cook in the oven until crispy. About 15-20 minutes. Drain on a paper towel and set aside.

6. Meanwhile, add green garlic, ramps, morels, and ginger into pot. Cook until softened.

7. Add in uncooked rice and toast for about 1 minute.

8. Add in chicken stock, fish sauce and soy sauce. Bring to a simmer. Add chicken thighs back in. Cook on low until chicken is tender, soup has thickened, and rice has softened/begun to break down. Add water/stock if too much liquid evaporates. About 45 minutes.

9. Meanwhile as arroz caldo cooks, make the nettle puree. Bring a pot to a boil. When preparing nettles, USE GLOVES to avoid stinging and numbness in hands. Blanch nettles and ramp leaves in boiling water for 30 seconds and immediately cool down in an ice bath.

10. Squeeze liquid out of blanched nettles and ramp leaves. Transfer to a blender with jalapeño and cold water. Blend until smooth and set aside.

11. Once chicken is cooked in the arroz caldo, remove from pot. Mix in reserved nettle puree and stir until combined.

12. Pick meat off of chicken thighs, discard bones and add chicken meat back into the arroz caldo.

13. Adjust seasoning with fish sauce, soy sauce, salt and pepper to your liking.

14. Serve topped with sliced chives, crispy chicken skin, garlic chips, a squeeze of lemon/calamansi, and a hard boiled egg.

    NOTES:

15. To cook hard boiled eggs, I like to bring a pot of water to a boil. Add in eggs. Bring water back to a boil. Cover pot with a lid. Turn off heat and let it sit for 13 minutes. Cool down in ice bath and immediately peel.

16. This recipe can be substituted without the spring goodies. Replace ramps and green garlic with regular garlic and you can replace or leave out morels with shittake mushrooms. For the green puree, replace nettles and ramp leaves with kale, spinach and/or scallion tops.