You know how to make garlic fried rice. But how about hardcore garlic fried rice? Give your sinangag four times the garlic flavor with garlic cooked four(!) ways:
Keep a close eye on the garlic while frying and sautéing. Dark, burnt garlic = bitter garlic. You want it pale golden to keep the flavors sweet and mellow.
Now that you have hardcore garlic fried rice, build the perfect silog with fried eggs and your breakfast fare of choice: tapa, tocino, adobo flakes, bacon.
Serious about sinangag? This hardcore Filipino garlic fried rice has garlic cooked four ways.
Roast garlic: Preheat oven to 400°F. Slice the tops off 2 heads of garlic, exposing the cloves. Place garlic on a sheet of aluminum foil and lightly drizzle with neutral oil. Crumple foil over the garlic to cover.
Roast garlic in the oven until cloves are soft and golden, about 45 minutes. To roast in the air fryer, set at 400°F for about 30 minutes.
Unwrap garlic and set aside until cool enough to handle.
Make crispy garlic: Peel and finely mince cloves from remaining two heads of garlic. Take ½ cup of minced garlic to turn into crispy garlic; set the rest aside.
Heat a small pot of oil to 350°F over medium-high. Once you've reached the right temperature, add the ½ cup of minced garlic. Reduce heat to medium or medium-low—you don't want to brown the garlic too quickly.
Gently fry the minced garlic until pale brown. Strain fried garlic with a fine mesh strainer, reserving the garlic oil for later. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels, then season with salt while hot. The residual heat will continue to cook the garlic.
Fry rice: Add 4 tbsp of reserved garlic oil in a pan on low heat. Add remaining minced garlic and sauté until fragrant but not browned. We don't want to brown the garlic.
Add white rice and toss until grains are coated in garlic oil. Squeeze heads of roasted garlic into the pan, then mash the roasted cloves into the rice. Toss and mash until roasted garlic is fully incorporated.
Add a little bit of crispy garlic at a time, tossing each batch into the rice until fully incorporated. Season rice with salt. Transfer to a serving bowl or divide between plates. Top with more crispy garlic. Serve hot.
