Creamy Congee In Thermal Pot

So I have been saying I want to learn how to make the best congee for the longest time. Think thick, savoury, Cantonese restaurant worthy stuff. Problem was that I was a) lazy to start figuring it out since such things require trial and error and b) not really craving for congee enough to try.

Anyway about 2 weeks ago I finally decided to get down to making that pot of congee. First, I scoured YouTube and Google to try and figure out the basics of congee making. Then I read as many recipes as I could online. There were so many methods, some people even blended the uncooked rice grains in a food processor to maximise the starch content of the congee and shorten the stirring time.

Finally, I came up with my own recipe that suited me best. Namely, something that was tasty and thick but which required as little effort and time as possible to make. Also, it could be made using a thermal pot which will allow me to leave the congee to cook while I went about my daily business. I certainly did not want to spend my day slaving over a hot stove stirring congee ala the traditional method.

Guess what, I am proud to say that my first time making congee was a roaring success! Yes I unabashedly claim that because every last bit was slurped up at the dinner table to appreciative sounds of happiness. So here goes, my recipe for Cantonese style congee made in a thermal pot. Its super easy and idiot-proof.

Chicken Congee 
(makes about 3 portions)

1. 3/4 cup Calrose rice 

I use Calrose but any short-grain rice will do. This is important, short grain rice breaks down easily. More starch = More gooey, silky goodness

2. 2 cups chicken stock + approx 3 cups water

I always have homemade chicken stock stored away in the freezer for occasions like this but feel free to use store bought stock. I just find the store stuff abit too intense in flavour for my liking so I don't really like to use it anymore.

3. 2 chicken drumsticks, deboned and meat chopped up into bite-sized pieces. Save the bones.

4. A generous knob of ginger, almost thumb sized, chopped into thin slices

5. 3 dried scallops, soaked in hot water and peeled into strips. Save the liquid that you soaked the scallops in.

Method:

- Wash and rinse rice in thermal pot
- Drizzle some cooking oil and about 1tsp of salt and proceed to coat rice grains with mixture. This is supposed to aid in making your congee silky and smooth.
- Then add chicken stock and water so that the height of the liquid is approx 3x the height of the rice. Adjust qty of water accordingly to reach this.

- Start to boil the mixture on the stove, let it reach a vigorous boil

- Stir occasionally so the rice does not stick to the bottom of the pot, let it boil vigorously for about 5mins.

- Add chicken, chicken bones, ginger slices, dried scallops and the liquid that you saved

- Boil vigorously again, stirring occasionally for another 5mins.

- Switch off the stove, cover the pot and transfer to outer pot. 

- Go about your daily life, you can leave it in there till you are ready to serve the congee but min time needed for cooking is an hr. I usually leave it in there for abt 2-3hrs.

When ready to serve,

- Remove inner pot and place on stove again. Do not panic when you see that ALL the liquid has been soaked up and your congee looks like nothing but a moist glob of rice.

- Add enough water to reach just above the height of the rice glob and switch on your  stove. Start stirring continously.

- Now, its just a matter of adding enough water to reach your desired thickness. I love my congee thick so I don't add much but its all a matter of personal preference.

- Keep stirring so the congee at the bottom of the pot does not burn.

- Discard chicken bones (I prefer to keep them aside to chew on) and serve with garnishing of choice. Mine was spring onions and fried shallots.

** This tastes tons better when you keep it to the next day. Haha....just saying...

A Trio Of Grilled Peppers

Getting ready for grill!

I'd always wanted to make my own grilled peppers. Before I got pregnant, we used to have salads every night and I'd often think of how great it would be if I had some grilled peppers to throw in my salad. However, I was never able to bring myself to buy those in the supermarkets because they are soooo overpriced!

I knew they were easy to make but I guess laziness got the better of me till recently. I've been making my own grilled peppers since this first attempt and never looked back! This version comes steeped in a balsamic vinaigrette mixture which is why I love it so much. The bite from the balsamic vinegar and garlic dressing really complements the sweetness of the peppers and I just can't get enough!

*On hindsight I should not have chosen the green pepper, it didn't have much juice in it and ended up just being super dry and not fun to peel at all.

How To Make Your Own Grilled Peppers 

Keep these in the fridge and they
are ready to serve whenever
you want them!

  1. Grill peppers in oven at 250 deg C for about 30mins or

      until skin is black and charred

  2. Place peppers in a bowl and clingwrap it, wait till it is  

      cool enough to handle with  your hands

  3. Carefully peel back all the blackened skin and discard

  4. Chop them up whichever way you like it, I did mine 

      lengthwise

  5. Prepare equal parts mixture of balsamic vinegar and 

      olive oil (or according to your own taste). I used 

      approximately 5 tablespoons of each, that was roughly 

      enough for me to fill up my glass bottle after adding 

      the peppers in.

  6. Add salt to taste and chop up about 1-2 cloves of 

     garlic, throw them into the mixture

  7. Toss peppers in mixture, making sure they are well 

     coated

  8. Pop everything into a glass container and keep 

      refrigerated.

Cured Salmon Update

After 24 hours

Homemade Citrus Cured Salmon

Okay verdict on my citrus cured salmon experiment: Loves! Been having lots of this with salad or on toast, plus its so cheap to make compared to buying it in the supermarket. Next time, I will be more generous with the zest. Was a little more cautious here because I don't want my salmon to turn out like I soaked it in Mama Lemon overnight.

I'm so glad I decided to revisit making this again after my last two attempts. I've always loved salmon especially in the form of sashimi or cured or smoked. However I must confess that it has been disappointing the few times I bothered to order any salad or sandwich with smoked salmon in it. There was so little salmon that I might as well be eating plain bread, which everyone knows I am not fond of.

So, hoorah for this latest success. Who cares if cured salmon is sometimes regarded as the poor man's smoked salmon? I'll be making this again soon! Yummeh!

Cured Salmon

I have tried making my own cured salmon on two occasions before. The first time I used an Asian inspired recipe of soya sauce and spring onions. It didn't work out too well, the salmon was much too salty and the sauce only served to hide the flavour of the fish. The second time, I stuck to the traditional Gravlax recipe of sugar, salt and dill. It turned out great but I learnt that I was not a fan of dill.

I then abandoned my efforts till I came across this recipe from Martha Stewart. I tried making it yesterday and since the salmon is still curing, I don't have any photos of the finished product yet but that will be coming up real soon!

* Martha's recipe calls for lemon, orange and lime zest. I didn't have orange and lime at home so I used lemon and calamansi zest from my calamansi plant instead. The salt/sugar rub ended up smelling pretty good so I assume it went well. Fingers crossed.

An Old Favourite

Hel-lo Chawanmushi!

Do you like eggs? I LOVE EGGS! When I was 16, I wrote an essay in school about how much I love eating eggs. I also once gave a 10 minute speech in class about how much I love eating instant noodles....but that is another story for another day.

Eggs, fried, poached, scrambled, steamed, half-boiled, hard-boiled, tossed with fried rice, all mushy in a good bowl of instant noodles.....yes I go eggy for them eggs!

Unfortunately, as age catches up, so does one's cholesterol level. So, with much reluctance, I have gradually cut down my intake of eggs. I know I could just eat the whites and skip all the bad cholesterol but what's the point? The yolk is the best part! 

On Monday, after a particularly tense afternoon, I decided that the only way to revitalize my sagging spirits was to make some familiar comfort food. I have quite a list of comfort foods but something told me that it was time to start cracking those eggs and make Chawanmushi!

I've made Chawanmushi many times and it never fails to induce happiness in both my husband and I as we spoon the eggy goodness in our mouths. Of course, the key to good Chawanmushi is that it must be savoury, silky and smooth. Most people add chicken slices or fishcake in theirs but I like mine plain. Normally I get too lazy to type out recipes but I shall make an exception and share this one!

I had to tear myself away from devouring my
Chawanmushi to take this photo

Chawanmushi Recipe

Makes 3-4 servings

- 3 eggs

- 1 can of chicken stock (You can omit this  for 300ml of water but try not to!)

- 1 tablespoon mirin

- 1 tablespoon light soya sauce

1. Crack 3 eggs in a large bowl and stir gently with a fork to mix them all up

2. Pour stock into egg mixture and add the mirin and soya sauce

3. Again, very gently, mix the entire thing up, the aim is to create as little bubbles as possible so that your Chawanmushi will be smooth.

4. Sieve mixture into Chawanmushi cups, discard all the globby bits that will not go through your sieve.

5. Cover cups with or if your cups don't come with covers, use aluminium foil

6. Steam for about 10mins and voila! Jelly, silky smooth Chawanmushi!