Every Filipino-Chinese household has their own way of making kiampong, also kiampung or kiampeng (鹹飯). Meaning “salty rice”, this dish is cooked with a mix of ingredients like mushrooms, chicken, pork, mustard greens, even chestnuts and chopped taro (gabi).
Whatever your add-ins, a few essentials define kiampong. First, soy sauce and dried shrimp (hibe) dictate the umami-rich saltiness of the whole dish. Second, roasted whole peanuts—and it has to be skin-on—generously scattered on top for texture. Finally, crispy fried shallots. Tedious to make, but their sweet crunch rounds out every salty bite of kiampong. Make more than you think you need.
While some recipes call for 100% malagkit (sticky rice), this can make the kiampong too dense, bordering on machang territory. Our approach combines regular white rice with malagkit in a 2:1 ratio.This combination cooks into distinct grains with a balanced texture—just the right mix of bite and chew. For best results, soak the malagkit rice in water for an hour before cooking.
This recipe is adapted from My Angkong's Noodles by Clinton Palanca.
Ingredients
Fried Shallots
- 1 bundle lasona (sibuyas Tagalog) or shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
- neutral oil, for frying
- salt
Roasted Peanuts
- whole peanuts, skin on
- nuts
Kiampong
- 2 tbsp neutral oil
- 100g chicken thigh fillet, sliced into 1-inch pieces
- 100g pork belly, sliced into 1-inch pieces
- 6 fresh shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 1 ½–2 tbsp soy sauce, see Notes
- 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp hibe (dried shrimp)
- 1 tbsp minced ginger
- 2 Chinese sausages, thinly sliced
- 1 cup uncooked white rice
- ½ cup uncooked malagkit (glutinous) rice, soaked in water for 1 hour, then drained
- 1 ½ cups water
- 1 bunch mustard greens, chopped
For Garnish
- Fried Shallots
- Roasted Peanuts
- minced green onions
Make fried shallots
Prep: Pat sliced shallots dry with a paper towel to remove excess moisture. Prepare a fine-mesh strainer over a heatproof bowl or saucepan. Line a baking sheet or large plate—you need something with a lot of space—with paper towels.
Fry shallots: Combine sliced shallots and neutral oil in a saucepan, wok, or small, deep skillet over high heat. The oil should be deep enough so most of your shallots are submerged, with none of them touching the bottom of the pan. As the oil heats up, stir the shallots with a fork or chopsticks to separate them into rings.
Once the shallots start bubbling, keep your eyes peeled and don’t walk away from the stove. Stir shallots constantly until they cook to a pale golden brown, about 8–10 minutes. Quickly pour the shallots into the strainer set over the bowl to drain.
Season shallots: Immediately transfer the drained shallots to the paper towel-lined baking sheet, scattering them into an even layer. Season with salt while hot. Let cool to room temperature.
Make roasted peanuts
Roast peanuts (stovetop): Heat a large, dry skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add peanuts to the skillet in a single layer. Toast peanuts, stirring or shaking the pan frequently, until fragrant and skin has taken on a darker color, 10–15 minutes. Remove from heat, season with salt, and set aside to cool to room temperature.
Roast peanuts (oven): Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C. Add peanuts to a baking sheet in a single layer. Roast for 20–25 minutes, shaking the pan halfway through, until fragrant and skin has taken on a darker color, Remove from oven, season with salt, and let cool to room temperature.
Make kiampong
Cook meat: Heat oil in a wide skiller, sauté pan, or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add sliced chicken and pork. Sear until brown on two sides. Remove meat and set aside.
Cook mushrooms: Add mushrooms in a single layer to the leftover oil and rendered fat. Let cook undisturbed until mushrooms turn caramel-brown on the first side. Stir and continue cooking until mushrooms are evenly browned.
Cook aromatics and sausage: Reduce heat to medium. Return seared meat to the pan, then add soy sauce and Shaoxing wine. Stir to combine, then push the meat and mushrooms to one side of the pan. Add garlic, hibe, and ginger to the pan and cook until fragrant. Combine aromatics with the meat and mushrooms. Add sliced Chinese sausage and cook for a couple of minutes.
Cook rice: Add white rice and malagkit rice to the pan. Stir until grains and meats are evenly distributed. Add water and bring the liquid to a boil, increasing the heat if necessary. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover with a lid, and simmer until cooked, about 20–25 minutes. Add chopped mustard greens to the rice during the last 5 minutes of cooking.
Garnish and serve: Transfer kiampong to a large serving bowl. Garnish with fried shallots, roasted peanuts, and minced green onions. Serve hot, with extra fried shallots and roasted peanuts on the side, if desired.
Notes
Soy sauce varies in saltiness. Start with less if cooking with toyo or Filipino soy sauce, which tends to be saltier than Chinese or Japanese soy sauce. You can always adjust the saltiness after with extra soy sauce or more salt.
You can cook your kiampong using that leftover shallot oil!
