Champorado is a classic breakfast in the Philippines and tastes chocolatey sweet. This recipe is “not too sweet”. Add more sugar according to taste for preferred sweetness.
One of my favorite breakfasts is Champorado. The main ingredients are composed of cocoa powder and sweet rice or glutinous rice (malagkit in Filipino). It is best served with fried dried fish or tuyo.
Champorado is love
I remembered the smile on my face when I was a kid every time we have Champorado for breakfast. The chocolate aroma lingered all over the house that I couldn’t wait to taste the Champorado.
It still makes me smile today as my 4 year old daughter also loves the smell and taste of the Champorado I was cooking. With wide eyes, she asked, “What are you cooking, Mom? That smells so good. I’m so hungry!.” Well, she definitely ate a whole lot and came back for seconds! She calls it “Chocolate Rice” and requests it for breakfast every weekend.
Sweet Rice or Glutinous Rice
The type of rice used in Champorado is sweet rice or glutinous rice. Sweet rice or malagkit in Filipino is a whiter opaque grain of rice and sticky when cooked with the same amount of water. The Champorado recipe requires more water to cook the rice in order to have a soupy consistency.
Hot or Cold?
Champorado can be eaten either hot or cold. It is usually eaten hot for breakfast or snack. We love to eat hot Champorado at home when it’s cold or raining outside.
It can also be eaten cold. Whenever we have some leftover Champorado in the fridge, I would fill my cup with the chocolate rice, mix it with milk and eat it cold. It’s like chocolate rice pudding!
Serve with Dried Fish or Tuyo… or Bacon
Champorado tastes so much better when it is served with salty fried dried fish (dried herring) or tuyo.
If there is no tuyo, any dried fish like danggit or biya can be paired with Champorado as these are also salty. Danggit is a dried spinefoot fish. Biya is a dried goby.
In the Philippines, you can buy tuyo in grocery stores or almost all mini-stores (tindahan). If you live abroad, you can check out Filipino stores or restaurants and ethnic stores near you.
If you can’t find tuyo or any dried fish, you can pair the Champorado with bacon. Bacon is salty too so it’s a good alternative for dried fish or tuyo.
The dried fish or bacon are some of the options you can pair with Champorado. The saltiness of the dried fish or bacon paired with ou can always eat Champorado by itself if you like.
Variations/ Substitutes
- Replace the evaporated milk and sugar with condensed milk. You will add the condensed milk after the Champorado is cooked. It’s creamy and delicious!
- If you can’t find sweet rice in the stores, you may try cooking oatmeal and adding chocolate milk. You’ll have Chocolate Oatmeal or Champorado Oatmeal
- If you don’t have cocoa powder, you may use the powdered chocolate milk instead. No need to add sweetener when using powdered chocolate milk.
- You may also use the liquid chocolate milk to replace the water, sugar and cocoa powder.
TIP: Pour any leftover milk on a dry container, cover tightly and store in the fridge for 4-6 days after opening. Do not freeze.
Champorado(Tsamporado) Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups Sweet Rice washed and drained
- 8 cups Water
Cocoa mixture
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 cup hot water
- 1 can evaporated milk
Instructions
- Pour the sweet rice on a big pot. Wash and drain the sweet rice at least twice.
- Pour 8 cups of water over the sweet rice.
- Cook on stove top over medium heat. Wait for it to boil.
- in a small bowl, prepare the cocoa mixture: cocoa powder, salt, sugar and hot water. Mix well.
- Once boiling, pour the cocoa mixture over the sweet rice and mix well. Wait for it to boil again.
- Lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Stirring every 5 minutes so the rice won’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
- In a bowl, pour the Champorado and top with evaporated milk according to your liking.
- Serve hot with fried dried fish (tuyo) or bacon.
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