I used to hate lugaw. Honestly, what even is it? Rice in hot water, floating like it got lost at sea. Plain, pale, flavorless. Something you feed the sick, not something you look forward to. Definitely not the kind of dish that makes me want to drop my pants and stay for breakfast.

But the pandemic happened. Lockdown. Isolation. Wallet empty. Streets silent except for ambulance sirens at night. Suddenly, lugaw—the very dish I swore off—looked like it could keep me alive.

Funny thing: at the same time, the Duterte administration was turning “lugaw” into a slur. Utak lugaw. Lutang. A cheap jab at Leni Robredo. But outside their palace bubble, people were literally cooking lugaw to feed their neighbors. Community kitchens ran on it. Bayanihan ran on it. Survival ran on it. While the state tried to mock it, lugaw became a quiet symbol of resistance.

So yeah, I sat on the idea of lugaw for a year. Not literally. And then Agot Isidro, of all people, came in to save me.

Somewhere in the middle of doomscrolling, Agot Isidro tweeted a recipe that stuck:

“Sauté ginger and garlic, add shiitake & vegan patis. Cook 3–5 min. Add broth (I use fake chix cubes with water). Boil, then add oats. Season to your liking. Cut tofu into bite-sized cubes, then fry.”

Oats. That was the kicker. I didn’t even screenshot the tweet—probably distracted by some hot guy on my feed—but it stayed in my head. Lugaw didn’t look so boring. It looked doable.

My Vegan Lugaw Recipe Experiment

Armed with two cups of rice and five cups of water, I finally tried it. Garlic, ginger, mushrooms, a splash of vegan patis—all of it sizzling in the pot like my frustrations with the world. Then I let it boil, stirred in oats, and fried tofu cubes on the side until they were golden.

The result? A bowl of vegan lugaw that was hot, thick, and comforting. Gingery, savory, creamy in a way I didn’t expect. Cheap food, sure—but it tasted like survival and, weirdly, like defiance. No meat, no dairy, just resilience in a bowl.

Easy Vegan Lugaw Recipe with Tofu

2 cups rice
5 cups water (add more if you want it thinner, less if you want it thick)
1 thumb ginger, sliced thin
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup shiitake mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp vegan patis (or soy sauce if that’s what you have)
1 veggie broth cube (optional)
1 block tofu, cubed and fried
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional toppings: spring onions, chili oil, calamansi

Instructions:

• In a rice cooker or pot, sauté garlic and ginger until fragrant. Toss in all your irritation at the world while you’re at it. It burns off cleaner this way.
• Add mushrooms and vegan patis. Things finally start smelling like they matter.
• Add rice, water, and the broth cube. Bring it to a boil. This part takes time. Unlike the government’s patience.
• Stir in oats and simmer until thick and creamy. They don’t look like much, but they give the dish body. Like hardship does.
• Season with salt and pepper. Lugaw doesn’t need to be fancy. It just needs to work.
• Serve hot, topped with fried tofu and whatever gets you through the night—spring onions, chili oil, calamansi.
• I went from hating lugaw to respecting it. Not just as food, but as a statement. This vegan lugaw recipe isn’t just about staying fed on a tight budget—it’s about reclaiming something dismissed as weak and turning it into strength.

During lockdown, lugaw was more than porridge. It was survival. It was defiance. It was a reminder that the simplest things—rice, water, tofu—can carry us through the darkest times.So yeah. Call it utak lugaw if you want. I’ll take it. Because this bowl has more substance, more grit, and more backbone than half the clowns running the country. But by Monday – election time – things might finally change. Or not.