Peace porridge

Porridge is the domain of the sickbed and palliative care as far as my friend Eileen is concerned. She is pretty easy going about food, but cannot be persuaded to eat porridge if she is well. In fact, even when ill and retching her guts out, she turns to porridge only after everything else has been upchucked a few times.

My other pal, Sharon Lee, on the other hand loves the stuff. She and I had porridge feasts with kimchi while working in Brunei. We both share the same liking for egg beaten into thick congee, with lots of bits in it.

Jessie, my sister in law, being Teochew (like half of me) is fond of traditional Teochew porridge, which is very watery rice gruel which is eaten with a smorgasbord of savory dishes ranging from fried dace with black beans, pickled lettuce, pig intestines in a soy sauce and fried egg with diced pickled radish. Her husband can’t stand this part of her culinary tradition, so she and I plan Teochew porridge meals when he’s away on business. Some women spa and pedicure. We slurp and burp.

From my Hakka mum-in-law, however, comes my new tradition of porridge. She’s famous in her church circles for her congee. She uses shredded chicken, groundnuts, century eggs and salted eggs to make hers. I have adopted a similar style. I like lots and lots of stuff in my porridge. I feel it makes it a complete all-in-all meal. While my offering looks like stodge in a bowl, it really is a kind of Chinese comfort food.

Today, because a friend of the family was taken ill, I got Kit to dice up some pork and I put in a can of braised peanuts, lotus seed, sesame oil and diced pickled radish (chai por) with rice in the crock pot which my dad used to make my meals in when I was a kid. He gave that to me when I became a home owner and I feel that the decades of good food vibes have infused this orange pot with some magical power.

I served up the porridge at dinner with my folks and both were appreciative. I think dad also got a warm glow at seeing the battered old crock pot in pride of place in my designer kitchen. Whatever it was, it was good stuff. Slow cooking ensures everything is consistently cooked and the flavours develop amazingly under slow, constant heat.

Butcher Heng’s pork was soft, but with a good texture; the salt from the radish negated the use of any more sodium, the lotus seeds provided interesting mouthfeel and the groundnuts gave the porridge depth. We finished most of the pot, but there’s a container full for the midnight munchies still.

Porridge, to me, is warm comfort. It’s so flexible and can be varied to suit different tastes and occasions and budgets. Hmmm, I suddenly am hankering for the oyster porridge served at the corner eating shop…