Sinangag
Sinangag (Garlic Fried Rice)
Filipino sinangag: day-old rice fried with lots of garlic until toasted and fragrant—the rice under tapsilog, tocilog, and longsilog.
Serves 4 · 22m total
The Story
Sinangag is not “fried rice with mixed-ins.” It is yesterday’s steamed rice, cold from the fridge, tossed in garlic oil until the grains separate and the kitchen smells like breakfast. Every silog—tapsilog, tocilog, longsilog, bangsilog—is built on this rice. Skip the garlic and you just have leftovers in a pan.
Fresh hot rice clumps and steams. Day-old rice fries. That is the whole recipe, plus more garlic than you think is polite. Some of the garlic is minced into the oil; some is sliced and fried crisp for the top.
A good plate looks dry enough that grains catch the light, with brown garlic bits mixed through—not yellow from egg, not wet from soy. Soy is for pancit. This is garlic and salt.
Best paired with
Fried egg, tapa, tocino, longganisa, or daing na bangus.
Use it in these KusinaPH recipes
Lola's Tips
- ✦Break cold rice with wet hands before it hits the pan so you are not smashing clumps in hot oil.
- ✦Medium heat: too hot burns garlic, too low steams the rice.
- ✦Do not crowd the pan—fry in two batches if needed.
- ✦Salt at the end so you can taste; garlic already carries a lot of flavor.
Substitutions
- day-old cooked rice → fresh rice spread on a tray and chilled 30 minutes
- cooking oil → a mix of oil and a little butter for richer silog plates
Ingredients
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Instructions
- 1
Crumble the cold rice with your hands until there are no hard clumps. Keep it in the fridge until the pan is hot.
- 2
Heat oil in a wide pan or wok over medium heat. Fry the sliced garlic until golden and crisp, 1 to 2 minutes. Scoop out and set aside.
- 3
In the same oil, saute minced garlic 30 to 45 seconds until fragrant and just turning gold. Do not burn it.
- 4
Add rice. Toss and press lightly, stirring 4 to 6 minutes until the grains are hot, separate, and smell like toasted garlic.
- 5
Season with salt and pepper. Toss once more. Top with the fried garlic slices and green onion if using.
- 6
Serve immediately as the rice under a silog plate, or as a side to fried fish.
Kitchen Timer · 10 min prep first
12:00
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