Porkie Porridge

I like porridge... do you like it? I remember whenever my mum made porridge, I would put a teaspoon full of marmite. My mum would always say, 'SO salty!!! Afterwards your hair will drop...' But I never listen. It's too good! Having too little of marmite, there's no kick in my porridge.

Anyways, I know that there are different kinds of texture one can make a porridge. Personally, I prefer the thicker version and the smooth version. Not really a fan of the Teo Chew version - watery kind (i think). But I still eat lah, if you serve it to me : P It is still food mah...

Ok ok back to topic... the thick ones tend to be 'chunky' and lots of condiments. I think most home cooking style is this version... or only my mother's : P The smooth version, if not mistaken, has been blended slightly such as those eaten at Dim Sum restaurants or those fancy Chinese restaurants.

So, I thought... 'Hmmm... let's try and make porridge for dinner.' In my mind, I thought, 'How hard can it be? It's just porridge...put rice, add meat / veggies, put more water in rice cooker... On it and done.' And so, I did that for the first time and it sort of worked. The porridge was cooked and it has the thick texture that I liked. However, the drawback was that the rice at the bottom was burnt and got stuck there. We scraped out a lot but the remainder of it was kinda wasted. Plus, the rice cooker was super dirty because the water overflowed from the container. The whole experience of porridge cooking was quite messy and I didn't like the mess (means need to clean more apart from washing the dishes & pots!)

To cut the long story short, I think I've figured out how to cook a porridge that is smooth and it doesn't overflow from the rice cooker. LOL! Probably it was the 5th or 6th attempt only I got it right : P

And so here it goes!

First, wash your rice as though you would normally wash them. If you want your porridge to have the less 'starchy' texture, then I suggest that you 'rub' the rice as you rinse them. When you 'rub' the rice, it removes the starch layer from the rice. Then fill water into the rice container, with double portion volume compared to boiling rice. Sounds a little German? OK, I shall try and break this down alittle bit...

Normally, when we boil rice, the water 'height' should be at the first 'column' of your middle finger. Yep, Chinese people use the agak-agak method, no proper metric measurements ^_^ So for porridge, just ensure the water 'height' is almost reaching to the 2nd column. Don't worry if the water is too much or too little, the solution is simple - Too little water = add more water later; too much water = boil longer : P

Wipe the outside part of the container dry and place it in the rice cooker. When the water starts to boil, place in your veggie. For this round, I use mince pork as meat for my porridge. Marinate the mince with a couple of dashes of white pepper and dollops of oyster sauce. Mix them well and flatten the meat out in a bowl or a plate. While the water is still boiling, use a spoon and gently scrape little chunks of meat into the water. Occasionally, stir the condiments so that they do not get stuck. While you're stirring it, make sure there is no grain of rice get stuck at the base.

Saw this 'method' at the local pork noodle stall : )

Keep repeating the occasional stir for about 20 minutes, with the lid open all the time. The rice should be cooked by that time. Once you're happy with the texture you desired, turn off the switch and close the lid to keep warm.

That's it!

Nice and clean rice cooker.. yes!!!

The outcome of this is that you'll have a smooth porridge. If you wish the texture to be even smoother, I supposed you can scoop some out and blend them in a food processor. Personally, I think the rice will be broken into small bits because of the constant stirring - au naturale! Another point to remember is not to over-marinate your meat, regardless it is chicken or mince pork. I notice that whenever there is 'marinate juice', it will sink underneath the rice and caused the rice to burnt and get stuck. That was my mistake in my first 2 attempts... hehehe. Last but not least, remember to reduce the rice portion when you want to make porridge. This is because the rice will expand due to more water and hence, the portion will be more than the normal rice portion.

TheLoyalFan says: 'This thick porridge was very good comfort food, especially on a cold night. I ate mine at lots of soya sauce. Nom nom nom...'

Mmm... Indeed a very good comfort good. We had this twice this week already : P Yum yums!

Till then, keep nomming!

Nasi Lemak 2.1 Beta

Nasi Lemak - another Malaysian's favorite. I'm very sure that everyone has eaten this at least once in their lives. Well, we love Nasi Lemak and in times when you're not in your home country, you'll miss it... alot!

Simple as it looks from the Nasi Lemak stall that we often buy our favorite food, this dish is actually quite tedious. However, some things can be prepared in advanced and one will find this whole preparation a very fulfilling and satisfying adventure : )

Here's what I've prepared for our version of nasi lemak...

Rice
Most important ingredient for a nasi lemak. Prepare your rice for your usual boiling in a rice cooker. Chop up some onion and ginger then place them into the rice cooker. Pour in coconut milk into the cooker as well. If you have some pandan leaves, get a couple of it and tie into a knot and throw in together. Last but not least, add a pinch of salt. Close the lid and start the boiling!

Ikan bilis (Anchovies) and peanuts
This is the fun part! You might be thinking that you'll need to roast them thru slow frying in a wok or using the oven. But hey! We used the microwave - one of man's creation to make our life easier and shorten preparation time. Do both ingredients separately. First, give a quick rinse on the ikan bilis. Then, without a lid, set 1 minute in the microwave and keep repeating until your ikan bilis become crispy.
Same goes for your peanut. We didn't have peanut so we made our ikan bilis only and made them a couple of days in advance ^_^

Curry
This one ah... instant curry paste! Da best! Need no says... definitely easy to cook and sure very goods! : P

Sambal 'chutney'
Hmmm... this one was kinda tricky. Well, point no. 1 - I've never cooked sambal in my life before. Whenever we cook nasi lemak, we either buy it from the nasi lemak stall or we have ready made sambal paste. Point no.2 - We don't have belacan and fresh chillis. So, I've decided to experiment with... tomatoes.
I soaked some dried chilli and serai (lemongrass) in hot water the night before. I've added in an assam keping into the bowl as well. Then, fry some onion in a pan / wok and pour in diced tomatoes and the soaked ingredients (without the water). Continue to fry on medium heat and mash up the ingredients to form into a paste. Finally, add water and season the paste with salt and sugar.

Cucumber and eggs
Simples! Cucumber - slice them up. Eggs - wash the eggs and place into the rice cooker and boil together with the rice. Hehehehe...

*Drum rolls, ends with a crash of the cymbal*

The outcome of this dish was really tasty. I added in the remaining coconut milk into the curry and it was very smooth! Mmm. The rice turned out well too! Every grain of rice was scraped from the base of the cooker : ) The sambal? Well, it sort of became a chutney because of the tomatoes. Nonetheless, it was still spicy and really complemented the rice. Something different but very refreshing for us. It was also the first condiment to finish for this meal.

TheLoyalFan says: 'I've always liked home cooked nasi lemak... it's the best! You get to customize your plate of goodness and add lots and lots of the stuff that you like. You don't have to tell the man to 'tambah nasi' because you can simply help yourself to another plate. "Relatively" healthy too! No added MSG and preservatives. Hehehehehe... somewhat lah! (trying to ease my conscience...nom nom nom)'

Oh, what a meal! I think we were so stuffed that we needed to lie down in order to 'stretch out' our stuffed tummy. 

Yummy yum yum...

One Pot Cooks it All!

What to cook when you have very limited stuff in your fridge? Not to worry, there's always the 'one pot cooks it all' dish also known as 'Pot of Goodness' as quoted by TheLoyalFan.

Basically, the title is self explanatory. We put the ingredients that we like into a rice cooker and after 20 minutes or so, voila! A pot of goodness is ready to be served! Yum yum!

Tonight, I made our favourite 'pot of goodness' - rice cooker lap cheong rice! (a modified version of claypot chicken rice) First, I cut ginger and lap cheong into slices. Then soak some chinese black mushroom in warm water(due to the water & weather condition here), cut off the stem and cut the shrooms into slices (or quarters if you like them chunky). Prepare the rice as how one prepares it (add a little bit more water for other ingredients that may absorb water) and before you pop it into the cooker, put all ingredients into the pot. Make sure everything is soaked beneath the water and add some seasoning. For this round, I've added chicken stock because I had some leftovers in the fridge and wanted to finish up. However, I've also added in soya sauce, oyster sauce and pepper. Well, these are the 'standard' seasoning I use for my chinese cooking :-) Once done, it should look like this:

Doesn't look quite appealing, eh? But don't worry, it will be yummy!

And put it into the cooker and wait for the switch to pop up.

After 20 minutes or when the switch pop up, you can smell the aroma from the rice pot and it is ready...Mmmm! What I like about this 'One Pot Wonder' is that you can put almost any ingredients into the pot. I've tried putting broccoli, chinese long cabbage, onion, chicken meat... it's like an experiment - Just put in the stuff, season it and once ready, open the lid and see the 'Pot of Wonder'! LOL!

Yum Yum YUMMM!

TheLoyalFan says: 'Om nom nom... Very good!*scrape rice pot clean*'

Ingredients: Almost any ingredient you fancy :-) For some taste and aroma, add in ginger, onion or garlic.