Like a once-loved song you've heard a thousand times and can no longer stand, rice porridge became my kids' Wonderwall.
I would make it once a week during our rice porridge period, and because a small amount of leftover rice makes a large pot, my poor little ones were shovelling it down for days. I say 'poor' but to be fair, it's not a terrible thing to eat on repeat. It's silky smooth comfort food and you can really go to town on the toppings. Actually, it's all about the toppings. My go-to is diced poached chicken breast, fresh coriander, spring onions, green chilli, sesame oil and crispy fried onions.
Regardless of the infinite possibilities presented by topping-swapping, it is apparently possible to have too much of a good thing. The kids now recoil at the very mention of rice porridge. Entitled little brats.
Spicy Rice Porridge
~ serves 6 adults or two children for several days ~
Ingredients
4 cups cooked white rice - preferably jasmine
1.5 litres chicken or veg stock
a fat thumb-sized stem of ginger, finely chopped
3 or 4 additional slices of ginger - 2mm thick
4 finely chopped cloves of garlic or 1 tbsp garlic granules, rehydrated
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp veg/canola oil
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1/2 tsp Chinese five spice powder
Topping ideas
You don't need to add all of these - two, three or four is fine:
torn coriander leaves
crispy fried onions - get the packaged stuff from your local Asian grocer - or good supermarket
shredded leftover roast chicken
poached chicken breast
sliced spring onion
fish sauce
soy sauce
sesame oil
sliced fresh chilli
chilli oil
sliced tofu
Dried Garlic Granules
Dried garlic granules are a smart little timesaver. If you rehydrate them (1 tbsp granules to 1.5 tbsp water) and fry them the same way you would chopped fresh garlic, they're a very reasonable replacement. I wouldn't use them uncooked in say, tzatziki or hummus - the texture is wrong and they do lack that pungent fresh garlic zing - but they're fine for cooked dishes.
Method
In a medium sized pot, heat both oils and fry the finely chopped garlic and ginger until they're starting to colour and smell wonderful.
Stir in your leftover rice, stock, the extra slices of ginger and white pepper. Let it come to the boil then turn down the heat to a gentle simmer.
Simmer for about 40 minutes, stirring every few minutes to stop the porridge catching on the bottom of the pot.
When the rice has broken down and you have a silky porridge with just a little texture remaining, add the five spice. Stir and simmer for another two or three minutes. Have a taste and add salt if necessary. Even better, a sprinkle of MSG if you have a stash.
The MSG myth
MSG is instant umami. It just makes everything taste more... well just more. But according to popular culture and citizen science, MSG is bad; the culinary equivalent of anabolic steroids. For as long as I can remember, these fine white crystals have been associated with unscrupulous Chinese restaurants dialling up the deliciousness to dangerous levels. But numerous studies have shown that MSG is no more harmful than table salt. So how did MSG misinformation become mainstream? The story, as told by the team at This American Life, is surprisingly entertaining. Find out how a michevious (and kinda racist) doctor started the MSG myth way back in the 60's.
To serve, I usually put all the topping options out on the table and let everyone garnish their own. And by now, you should've somehow realised what you gotta do.
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