What Is Lugaw, If Not Rice Persevering? (A Pseudo-Scientific Deep Dive)

What Is Lugaw, If Not Essential Rice Persevering?

WHAT IS LUGAW – The humble “lugaw” recently went viral, but, is it not rice persevering?

n this second season of the enhanced community quarantine, the government imposed stricter curfews. However, certain protocols were unclear – much like the question of “lugaw’s” essentialness.

Meanwhile, if we think about it this way, isn’t lugaw just fancy rice? Additionally, isn’t rice among the most essential food items in the country?

Even before the quarantine, Filipinos have rice as a top priority when it comes to food. In fact, we eat it in every important meal (we even eat rice as a snack).

ccording to the Department of Agriculture, Filipinos eat 12.9 million metric tons of rice annually. This means, a lot of these rice are being made into lugaw.

A bowl of this food is so filling that you can already consider it as a meal. This is the reason why a lot of Filipinos are attached to it. Through ups, downs, and times of need, lugaw is there to fill us up and get us through the day.

Also, to answer the question “Is Lugaw Essential?”, we simply need to go to the Inter-Agency Task Force on COVID-19’s guidelines.

Under Section 1 of the Definition of Terms, food is being considered as an “essential goods”. Based on the official guidelines of the IATF:

“Essential goods and services cover health and social services to secure the safety and well-being of persons, such as but not limited to, food, water, medicine, medical devices, public utilities, energy, and others as may be determined by the IATF.“

Furthermore, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque himself said that “Lugaw, or any food item for that matter, is considered an essential good”. Likewise, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez clarified that food deliveries are exempted from curfew hours.

READ ALSO: Food Delivery Rider Barred From Delivering “Lugaw” To Customer In Bulacan Barangay