Plain Porridge for the Weak

As I was fighting the cold over the weekend, I could not think of anything better to feed my appetite other than plain old, good porridge. I can probably say that I have grown up eating porridge. Ah Po probably started feeding me porridge since I was a toddler up till... hmm, the teens? Whenever that was, it must have been the time when my brothers, Sunny and Aaron, got so sick of porridge and refuse to eat them. At which point, Ah Po gradually surrendered to cooking something else ;p


There are many variations of porridge: Teochew porridge, Cantonese porridge, century egg porridge, chicken porridge, fish porridge, and the list goes on and on. The one that I grew up having is just plain porridge, which I would say is similar to Teochew porridge - plain (or no added flavorings such as sesame oil), watery, and the rice grains still whole. However, Ah Po's plain porridge is less watery than the conventional Teochew porridge, and I think that has to do with her Cantonese descendant. Though her side dishes are similar to those of Teochew porridge, namely salted duck eggs, pickled lettuce, salted fish, and pickled bean curd. Since I didn't care much for the selection of side dishes, I was contented with mixing in spoonfuls of Bovril or Marmite into my bowl of porridge.


Unfortunately, I was unable to find Bovril or Marmite (as you can tell, I need to broaden my Asian groceries stores horizon). As such, improvisation is necessary. I picked up some salted duck eggs, Chinese broccoli (kai-lan), and yellow tofu (thought it very appropriate for my condition; "tofu" is Cantonese slang for weak). The Chinese broccoli was boiled and served with oyster sauce - really simple, but delicious! The yellow tofu was pan-fried - again, very simple, but I was very disappointed that I could not find Lingham's Chili Sauce to accompany it with. The simplest was the salted duck egg - I just need to cut it into half. But when I did, I was (again) disappointed as the yolk doesn't look all shiny and orangy. It did taste salty :)


By the way, does salted duck egg has expiration date?

Plain Porridge
1/4 cup of rice
2.5 cups of water


Rinse rice 
Bring water to boil, then continue to boil on high heat for about 15 minutes
(Make sure it doesn't boil over as it starts to foam, reduce heat slightly if necessary)




Boiled Kai-Lan
Water
Oil 
Salt
Oyster sauce
Fried onions


Bring water, with added pinch of salt and drops of oil, to boil
Put kai-lan into boiling water 
When water is boiling again, about 3 - 4 minutes, drain kai-lan
Put some oyster sauce on top of the plate of kai-lan
Sprinkle some fried onions on top of the kai-lan with oyster sauce