Porridge with Minced Pork Balls

I love porridge because it's so easy to cook.

All you need is a rice cooker and the porridge can happily cook itself while you go about doing other things - like updating one's blog. ;-)

Because porridge is so versatile, you can make plain porridge which goes well with fried crunchy anchovies, fried peanuts, choy poh (Chinese salted vegetables) or you can make fish porridge (basic porridge with the addition of fresh fish slices) or you can make pork porridge.

For pork porridge, you need:

1/2 cup minced pork (marinate with pepper, salt, soya sauce and 1 tsp cornflour for 10 minutes in the fridge)
1 cup rice, washed and drained (1 cup rice serves 2 people, so double up if you have more mouths to feed)

The ratio of rice to water is 1:4. The water should be at least 3 inches above the rice level when it's in the rice cooker pot.

When cooking porridge, do not close the rice cooker lid tightly. Slant it at an angle or you will have a mess of gruel to clean up after! Plus your porridge might just end up a mushy rice.

Put rice and water into your cooker and switch on the cooker. Tilt the lid so that the rice cooker isn't tightly covered. Let this bubble and boil for 30 minutes or more. Once in a while, stir the pot so you know the consistency of the porridge.

After 30 minutes, shape minced pork into tiny balls and drop into the cooking porridge. Add a teaspoon of salt and a dash of pepper. Add 1 tbsp sesame seed oil and stir well.

Let it cook for another 10 minutes before switching off the heat. Let porridge stand for another 10 minutes before serving warm with good quality soya sauce.

UPDATE: A tip I learnt - if you mix your minced pork with egg and soya sauce, your minced pork ball will be smoother!

Comments

Goji Berry, Chrysanthemum & Red Date Tea

I've been making this simple tea for a few times already. Not sure if I had shared this before but all it needs are 3 ingredients - dried goji berries, dried red dates and dried chrysanthemum bulbs. This sugar-less concoction is good for health especially if you want to maintain immunity. It's even more important these days what with the pandemic and Covid-19. But it is also a pleasant brew - no boiling needed. All you need is a handful of goji berries (washed and soaked for 5 minutes in water), 3-5 large dried red dates and a teaspoon of dried chrysanthemum flowers (these are the small heads of flowers, not the usual type for making chrysanthemum tea). Put all the ingredients in a teapot and pour in boiling water. Let it sit for 10 minutes and voila, you have made yourself a healthy tea without sugar. It has a natural sweetness from the red dates and goji berries. And once you have drunk all the tea, you can continue adding more boiling water for a second b...

The Remarkable Nut of Nuts

In this recipe, walnuts and dried red dates are combined to make a healthy and life-giving dessert. And with honey added, it packs a punch. A truly simple dessert which is used to prevent the usual flu magnets - colds and coughs. It helps too with your kidneys and with bowel movement. Walnuts are much revered in Chinese medicine, not least because the nut resembles the brain! Again, the Chinese believe that walnuts are good snacks for children as they help boost brain power which is true because of the high amounts of Omega 3 fats (good for the brain). Walnuts are of course a good source of essential omega-3 fatty acids and in Roman times, considered the food of the gods. Walnuts are a 'yang' tonic and useful for toning up weak kidneys. It also warms lung Qi while acting as a laxative, moistening the intestines (hence encouraging bowel movement if you are constipated). Walnuts are called Hu Tao Ren (juglans regia) in Chinese medicine. Walnut & Red Date Dessert 150 gm walnut...

Corn Silk That You Should Never Throw Away

The next time you buy fresh corn still in its husk, you should never throw away the corn silk. Most people throw away the husk and silk, thinking that they're useless but I can tell you, corn silk is great for your body. Save the corn silk to make a healthy tea. Just place all the silk into a pot, cover with 500ml of water and simmer for 10 minutes on low heat. Turn off the heat and pour yourself a steaming cup of sweetish corn silk tea that tastes a little like corn. Corn silk or Yu Mi Xu is a natural corn fibre that is also used in Native American medicine. It contains flavonoids that give corn silks their colour and have antioxidant properties. I t is considered an important medicinal plant, able to induce diuresis and excrete dampness according to TCM. Corn silk is helpful towards Kidney, Bladder, Liver and Gall Bladder. meridians Therefore it clears damp heat, bloating, rheumatism, skin eruptions, gout, wasting and thirsting disorder, hepatitis, cholelithiasis, ch...

The Soup Queen

Search This Blog