Tuesday 26 October 2010

Chicken Porridge


We usually have Chicken Porridge for our Sunday lunch, because it's just so simple to make.
All the ingredients go into the Thermal Pot in the morning before we walk 5 minutes to church. After church, we simply walk home to a piping hot meal of Chicken Porridge.

CHICKEN PORRIDGE
INGREDIENTS
2 Chicken Legs, bone in
1 tbsp Cooking oil
2 cups Rice
1 litre Hot Water
5 slices Ginger
Salt to taste (about 1 tsp - we can always add light soy sauce later if the porridge isn't salty enough)
Fried Shallots, Sesame oil, White ground pepper and Spring onions for garnishing

METHOD
  1. Wash the rice, drain it and put it into the inner pot. Put the salt and cooking oil into the damp rice and shake it about to coat it. My granny swears by this method to get a very smooth congee. ;)
  2. Into the pot, add the chicken, the ginger slices and the hot water, and set it all to boil. I usually boil the water in my electric kettle to save on boiling water on the stove; it's quicker for me, especially when I'm trying to get 3 kids ready to get out of the house. If you don't have hot water, just simply add water into the pot and then boil it with the other ingredients.
  3. After vigorous boiling for a minimum of 5 minutes, turn off the heat and put the inner pot into the Thermal Pot.
  4. Go out. Have fun. Go online. Watch grass grow.
  5. After about 2 hours or more, remove the chicken from the pot and shred the meat. BE CAREFUL! IT'S STILL VERY, VERY HOT!
  6. Pour more hot water into the pot to get the consistency you prefer. Since my kids like their porridge thick, I usually scoop their out first. I love my porridge thin, so I'll add more water into the pot after I've distributed the porridge out into bowls.
  7. Put the shredded chicken on top of the porridge and garnish with fried shallots, sesame oil, white ground pepper and spring onions.
  8. Serve with you tiao if you can find it. ;)
I like my porridge with egg, so before ladling it out to my bowl, I crack an egg and put it in the bottom of the bowl. I make sure that the porridge is HOT before ladling it on the egg. The heat from the porridge will cook the egg, thickening the porridge to a yummy texture.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

what is inner pot or thermal pot? is it rice cooker or slow coooker?

Brenda said...

This is a thermal pot:
http://hubpages.com/hub/Another-Kitchen-Must-Have-The-Thermal-Cooking-Pot

It doesn't run on electricity or stove fire. Once heated, the inner pot retains the heat to cook because of the outer pot. It's very energy-saving and simple to use. =)

Unknown said...

If I don't use the thermal and inner pot is it okay?

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Brenda said...

Sure, it's ok, but you'll have to watch your pot while cooking and keep adding water that's evaporated. If you do, keep your fire small, to allow the rice to "bloom". :)

eki said...

thank u soo much. this taste really good like bought from the stall. im glad i came across your blog.

Anonymous said...

This looks awesome and exactly what I need! Do u mean to cook the uncooked rice grains and chicken legs together in the pot for 5min before transferring into the thermal pot? Will the rice cook that way? Thanks!

Brenda said...

Yup - because the thermal pot continues cooking long after it's removed from the flames. The internal temperature of the thermal pot keeps it at slow-cooking temperature.

If you're concerned at transferring it back in the pot after 5 minutes of hard boiling, you may do so after 10 minutes of hard boiling.

Just make sure that it's not a simmering boil of 5 minutes. What you want is to maximise the temperature of the inner pot before it goes into the outer pot.