Porridge: salty, sweet or plain

Editor's note: Traditional and fusion cooking styles, regional and international ingredients and a new awareness of healthy eating are all factors contributing to an exciting time for Chinese cuisine. We explore the possibilities.

Before I came to live in China more than 10 years ago, the only porridge I knew was made from rice, cooked long and slow until it was smooth and bubbling. More often than not, it was the base for a host of delicious ingredients.

My husband, who grew up in Beijing, is totally unused to salty congee. Porridge to him is made from cornmeal, millet or rice and red beans, and it is neither savory nor sweet. It is eaten totally plain, just as we southerners would eat rice.

Of course, we also have unseasoned rice porridge, but it is only one of several options.

And so the great culinary divide appears again. But with merging boundaries and regional influences, we can enjoy the best of both northern and southern kitchen secrets.

Let's start with the coastal provinces, since their cooking styles are relatively more influential.

In Fujian, the rice porridge, unseasoned, often has chunks of sweet potatoes added. The snowy porridge with its golden chunks of sweet potatoes is served with little dishes of highly flavored food, such as an omelette of chopped salty-sweet pickled radishes, a basin of soy sauce braised pork, highly spiced squares of tofu, and a stir-fry of finely diced long beans, carrots, tofu and more pickled radishes.

My grandfather, an old Fujianese, once said the sweet potatoes were added because rice was hard to come by in the past, and the root vegetables helped fill empty stomachs.

Chaozhou-style porridge is rice that is cooked in lots of water until the grains just bloom, but are still firm. It is served with an array of chilled seafood such as cold crab, cockles, steamed mullet and pickled mustard greens chopped up and braised in pork fat. On the table will be saucers of salty yellow beans, which act as a dip for the steamed seafood.

It is the Cantonese who have taken the art of porridge-making to new levels. Plain porridge is most often eaten as the first meal of the day, at breakfast.

It is slightly salted at the table, and accompanied by a freshly fried dough fritter, or youtiao. The contrast between the smooth silky porridge and the crisp crunch of the fritter wakes up the palate.

That is the main difference that sets Cantonese porridge apart. It is slowly and patiently cooked until the rice grains melt and fuse into a velvety gruel. It slides down the throat easily, full of savory goodness from all the ingredients it is cooked with.

There is a secret to the velvety texture. The rice has to be washed well, with a little oil added. According to the chef who shared this tip with me, the oil helps to emulsify the rice as it breaks down, and it enhances the smoothness of the final product.

It's all about kitchen alchemy.

Take that dim sum classic of savory salted pork porridge with century eggs. Once added to that bubbling pot, the pickled eggs mellow, the gelatinous white blending into the smoothness of the rice and the yolks seeming to melt into the porridge.

Another famous Cantonese congee is the raw fish porridge, in which thinly sliced fish are actually cooked by the heat of the bowl at the table. This is often served with plenty of ginger julienne and discs of crispy youtiao.

Then there is a porridge full of tender pig liver and kidney slices all barely blanched by the hot gruel, their juices flavoring the rice. Sometimes, little meatballs and pieces of chewy intestines are also added.

Tender slices of beef, well-velveted, are also a common ingredient in Cantonese porridge, as well as seafood such as prawns, lobsters and even abalone.

In comparison, the porridges in the north are simple to the extent of being austere.

Cornmeal cooked with water for a few minutes on the stove is a common accompaniment to braised meat or stir-fries, or the cold cuts and pickles that northerners love so much.

Millet and red beans are often mixed with rice for a porridge with different textures. These porridges are really very healthy and subscribe to modern wellness principles.

They are most often eaten in summer, as the temperatures rise and appetites fail.

It is also in Beijing that I first tasted sweet porridge, a combination of various grains and nuts sweetened with honey or sugar. This concoction is eaten during the end of the year, on the eighth day of the 12th lunar month, labajie.

Whether it is sweet, savory or just plain, porridge is very much a part of Chinese culinary culture, in all parts of the country.

paulined@chinadaily.com.cn

Recipe

Salt pork and century egg porridge

500g lean pork fillet

6 century eggs

1.5 cups rice, soaked overnight

Cut pork fillet into 5-cm chunks, generously salt and leave to marinate overnight in a zip-lock bag. The next day, rinse the salted pork and steam. Cool and shred.

Peel and roughly chop century eggs into large chunks.

Wash soaked rice, drain and rub with 1 tablespoon vegetable oil.

Heat up three liters water, add rice and half the shredded pork. Boil until rice grains bloom.

Add half the century egg chunks. Boil until porridge becomes almost smooth. Add remaining century eggs and shredded pork. Transfer to large crockpot, keep warm and serve.

This is Cantonese comfort food that has gone beyond regional. The little tender morsels of black century eggs inspire a treasure hunt among the silky softness of the white porridge, and the chewy shreds of salted pork are part of the experience.

My grandfather used to lovingly tend the pot, stirring often to make sure his porridge turned out perfect each time. Rubbing the uncooked rice with oil coats it with a lubricating layer that turns the finished congee velvety.

Red bean and millet porridge

100g red beans, soaked overnight

200g millet, rinsed

2 liters water

Place red beans and millet into the pot of water and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer for about half an hour, or until red beans soften. This can also be cooked in a rice cooker with a porridge function.

Raw fish porridge

250g sashimi-grade fish fillet (snapper, trout or salmon)

1 liter top stock

1 liter water

1 cup rice, soaked overnight

1 tablespoon finely shredded ginger

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 teaspoon cornstarch

Salt and pepper

Shredded lettuce

1-2 youtiao (dough fritters), cut into discs

Combine stock, water and rice and start the porridge. Boil until rice grains bloom, then turn down to a simmer till porridge is smooth or at the consistency you like.

Thinly slice the fish fillet against the grain and marinate with salt and pepper, oil, sesame oil and a little cornstarch. Mix well.

Spread out the slices of fish at the bottom of a soup bowl and scatter ginger julienne on top. Bring the finished porridge to a rolling boil, and ladle over the fish slices.

Give the bowl a stir to distribute the fish slices and serve immediately. Garnish with shredded lettuce and youtiao.

The traditional fish to use in this porridge was either grass carp or wolf herring, but salmon may be easier to buy.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 05/25/2018 page19)