Sometimes You Just Need a Bowl of Rice Porridge
We’d just come off the back of a very hectic weekend filming The Wild Wans, and by the time we got home I think both Jo and I were ready to stop.
Jo more than me.
She was completely wiped out, so her plan for the day was simple: sofa, Harry Potter movies and crocheting a new Halloween garland.
Mine was equally simple.
I went into the kitchen.
The kitchen has always been my happy place. I don’t necessarily need an occasion to cook and I certainly don’t always need to be developing a recipe. Sometimes I just want to potter about, take my time and cook the food that I actually want to eat.
And when somebody you love is feeling exhausted and a little under the weather, there are certain dishes you instinctively turn to.
For me, one of those dishes is rice porridge.
The Chinese food equivalent of a big hug
Rice porridge — often known as congee — isn’t glamorous food.
And that’s precisely why I love it.
It’s soft, warming, comforting and incredibly nostalgic. It’s the sort of food that feels as though it’s doing you good before you’ve even finished the first bowl.
Growing up in a Chinese family, food was always one of the ways we looked after each other. You didn’t necessarily ask somebody what they needed. Quite often, you just fed them.
And rice porridge is exactly that kind of food.
For this one I wanted plenty of ginger, chicken and those deep savoury flavours that make every spoonful feel comforting.
Nothing clever. Nothing fancy.
Just a steaming bowl of proper home food.
Of course, I couldn’t leave it there…
Because I had something I don’t seem to have very often at the moment — time.
So alongside the porridge I made youtiao, Chinese fried bread.
Fresh youtiao is a wonderful thing. Golden and crisp on the outside, light and fluffy inside, but with that distinctive chew that makes you immediately want another piece.
Tear one open while it’s still warm and you’ve got all those lovely airy pockets inside.
Then dip it into a bowl of hot rice porridge and let it soak up some of that broth.
That’s comfort food.
And then there were the noodles
I also made a plate of simple fried thin noodles.
Again, nothing complicated.
I love them when some of the noodles have caught against the wok and gone crispy while others remain softer and chewy. You get all these different textures from something incredibly simple.
So suddenly our quiet little day at home had turned into a table filled with rice porridge, crispy noodles and freshly fried youtiao.
But that’s the thing about comfort food.
It doesn’t have to be one particular dish or something extravagant.
Sometimes comfort is simply eating food that reminds you of home.
Sometimes it’s having nowhere to be.
Sometimes it’s Jo curled up on the sofa watching Harry Potter while I’m happily making a mess in the kitchen.
And sometimes it’s putting a steaming bowl of rice porridge in front of somebody you love and saying, without actually saying it…
Here you go. This will make you feel better.
Chinese Comfort Food for a Day at Home | Rice Porridge, Youtiao & Fried Noodles
Ingredients
CHINESE FRIED BREAD — YOUTIAO
- 175 ml Warm water
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Yeast
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
- 2 tsp Oil
- 7 oz Plain Flour
CHICKEN & GINGER CONGEE
- ⅔ cup rice
- 5 Ltrs water
- 1 tbsp chicken powder
- Pinch of white pepper
- 5 slices ginger
- 5 dried scallops broken into pieces (optional)
- 1 piece Chinese salted turnip washed and sliced
- 1 chicken breast poached and chopped
SIMPLE FRIED NOODLES
- 2 Nests Thin egg noodles
- Splash Light soy sauce
- Splash Dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Oil for frying
Instructions
CHINESE FRIED BREAD — YOUTIAO
- Mix the warm water with the sugar and yeast and leave for a few minutes to activate.
- Add the plain flour, salt, baking powder and oil to a mixing bowl, then pour in the activated yeast mixture.
- Combine and knead for around 5 minutes in a mixer or 10 minutes by hand. If your dough feels a little wet, add a touch more flour. Different flours absorb different amounts of water, so adjust as needed.
- Cover and leave the dough to rest for around 3 hours.
- Lightly flour your work surface, turn out the dough and divide into four equal pieces. Stretch into long fingers.
- Lightly wet one piece of dough and place another on top. Press a chopstick firmly along the centre to create the classic youtiao shape.
- Carefully fry in hot oil until puffed, golden and crispy. Remove and drain on a wire rack with kitchen paper underneath.
CHICKEN & GINGER CONGEE
- Add the rice to a large saucepan and wash twice, pouring away the water each time.
- Add 5 litres of fresh water followed by the chicken powder, white pepper, ginger, dried scallops and salted turnip.
- Place over a medium heat and bring to a gentle simmer. Turn the heat down low and allow to cook slowly for a few hours, stirring occasionally.
- After about an hour, poach the chicken breast until cooked through, chop into small pieces and add to the congee.
- Continue cooking gently until the rice has broken down and the congee is thick, soft and comforting.
SIMPLE FRIED NOODLES
- Rehydrate the noodles, rinse thoroughly under cold water and leave them in a sieve to air-dry.
- Get your wok nice and hot, add a little oil and then add the noodles.
- Leave them alone for a while so they can develop those lovely crispy bits before tossing them through the hot oil.
- Finish with a splash of light soy sauce and dark soy sauce, toss everything together and serve.
For more recipe checkout my Chinese Made Easy Cook Book
