Campfire Cast-Iron Filipino Coconut Rice with Fried Eggs and Sweet Longganisa

Build your campfire and let it burn down to an even bed of glowing coals — you want steady, moderate heat rather than leaping flames. Set a grate over the coals and place a 12-inch cast-iron skillet on top to preheat for 5 minutes.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 cups jasmine rice, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (13.5 oz) full-fat coconut milk
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 8 sweet Filipino longganisa sausages (about 12 oz)
• 4 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons neutral oil, divided
• 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Build your campfire and let it burn down to an even bed of glowing coals — you want steady, moderate heat rather than leaping flames. Set a grate over the coals and place a 12-inch cast-iron skillet on top to preheat for 5 minutes.
2. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the hot skillet and fry the sliced garlic, stirring constantly, for 60 to 90 seconds until pale gold. Scoop the garlic out onto a paper towel immediately — it will keep crisping as it cools, and it burns fast over live fire.
3. Add the rinsed rice, coconut milk, water and salt to the skillet. Stir once, bring to a gentle simmer, then cover with a lid or foil and slide the skillet to the cooler edge of the coals. Cook for 18 to 20 minutes without lifting the lid.
4. While the rice steams, set a second skillet or a griddle plate over the hotter part of the fire. Add the longganisa with a splash of water, cover, and cook for 8 minutes, then uncover and let the sugars caramelize for 4 to 5 minutes more, turning often so the glaze darkens without scorching.
5. Push the sausages to one side and crack the eggs into the rendered fat with the remaining oil. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes, spooning hot fat over the whites until set with runny yolks and lacy, crisp edges.
6. Pull the rice skillet off the heat, uncover, and fluff gently with a fork. The coconut milk should have cooked down into every grain, leaving the rice glossy rather than wet, with a lightly toasted crust on the bottom.
7. Serve straight from the skillets: a mound of coconut rice, two sausages and a fried egg per person, showered with crisp garlic and scallions, with lime wedges and plenty of black pepper.
8. This dish borrows its bones from silog, the Filipino breakfast formula of garlic rice, egg and a savory protein that fuels mornings from Manila to Mindanao. Cooking it over a campfire is a natural fit — coconut, rice and cured sausage all travel well without refrigeration, and cast iron over coals delivers the same crackling crust as a home griddle. The sweet-salty longganisa against creamy coconut rice and a runny yolk is the kind of breakfast that makes waking up in a tent feel like a genuine luxury.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 690 kcal
• Protein: 24g
• Fat: 38g
• Carbohydrates: 62g
• Fiber: 2g
• Sugar: 7g
• Sodium: 890mg