This humble bowl of porridge is a revelation to me.
It has been more than a year since my last post. I suddenly just stopped writing about food altogether. There's a reason for this. Something weird yet wonderful has happened since then:
I gave birth to this little bunny.
Obviously, this is not the weird part. And the pregnancy itself went well overall. However, the 'morning' (read: all day) sickness was incredible this time around. This is not something I've experienced before. My first pregnancy went by very smoothly, and I can say that I did not experience any type of sickness at all. Appetite was good, no dizziness, vertigo, nothing. But, this second pregnancy, well, it was special to say the least.
Not only was I not able to eat, smell food or any food ingredients (and in particular, garlic), I was also not able to read or see food anywhere. I just felt nauseous by the sight of it. Be it on TV or magazines, billboard, you name it. I was pretty miserable. Thus the sudden absence from this blog :(. It's like I totally became a different person. Food was always an event for me before, an entertainment. But then it became sort of my nemesis. I lost weight, I even stayed away from the food channel. This is unheard of! It was national geographic all the way for me. Also some soothing documentaries on NHK World :D. Yes, I find the documentaries on their channel very soothing. Nice choice of background music, easy yet entertaining flow of story telling, it's like going to a spa. Sort of. My fave in particular was the 72 hour documentary, it's very interesting to be looking at glimpses of people's lives like that, contemplating on our short time on earth and the meaning of life itself. Pretty deep stuff. How very uncharacteristic of me.
I even developed a taste for food I didn't care for before, such as; banana cake and red bean bao, to name a few. These however are my husband's favorite things to eat. Weird. I actually downgraded myself to his taste :P. Thank goodness I didn't develop any cravings for durian :D. That would be the pits for sure :D. Other pregnancy woes also included acid reflux, shortness of breath and the constant nausea. Nothing unheard of before, but it was a first for me.
Of course, all the pregnancy challenges I went through felt like nothing after Hassan was born. Forgotten, like they never happened. And that's only because the challenges that come next after he was born was even more.....special :D. Though the fact that he is super cute helps making it more bearable. Of course, I say he's cute because I'm the mommy.
Anyways, I decided to start writing today to document the simple yet brilliant (in my opinion) recipe of the yummiest porridge I've ever had, bar none. And being an avid porridge lover myself, this is saying a lot.
This porridge was made as a side product when I was making another chicken dish today. Rather than throw away the bones, I decided to make chicken stock out of them. I shall call it 'nude stock' as the stock really did not have anything in it, except they were only boiled down for hours over low heat. The result was nothing short of amazing. The layers of flavor was just incredible!!*love.
Although I think the choice of chicken used made a difference. I used frozen chicken to be honest, Frangosul brand. There are two frozen chicken brands that I think tastes even better than fresh chicken: Sadia and Frangosul. Between the two, I think Frangosul taste better. The chicken meat tastes sweeter somehow, very noticeable difference to me. I don't go to the market everyday. Grocery shopping is only done once a week, therefore frozen meats seem like a better idea for me.
For the porridge I made today, I used whole chicken bones. Their griller chicken was on sale the other day, around SGD 4.60 for a decent sized chicken, perfect for a family of 3 1/2 like mine.
The full process are the following:
1. I boiled down the bones for approximately 3-4 hours over low heat, took out whatever impurities that come out along the way.
2. When the stock seems ready, I did not take out the bones, but I added washed rice (that's right; rice that has been washed again), along with some clean water and boil that down for the next hour or so.
3. After the rice has broken down into your desired consistency, add a little bit of salt. Keep in mind not to add too much, just enough so that you can taste a hint of saltiness only. I learn from my mom that this method makes the dish even more irresistible because you're letting the precious chicken stock shines.
4. Add beaten chicken egg little by little as you would when making egg drop soup.
5. Turn off the heat and add in chopped up scallions.
My daughter, Naylla, is in no way a fan of porridge. The congee that she had at the child care centre she went to when she was small has ruined it for her permanently it seems :D. But, she is crazy about this porridge!! So, I'm pretty confident that this recipe is a winner, a keeper :).
Complete recipe for Yummiest Porridge:
Frangosul chicken griller size 1 KG
1 small bowl washed rice (about 5 tbs)
1 small bowl of chopped scallions
1 beaten eggs
Salt to taste
Enjoy!
It has been more than a year since my last post. I suddenly just stopped writing about food altogether. There's a reason for this. Something weird yet wonderful has happened since then:
I gave birth to this little bunny.
 |
| The Bunny Who Stole My Heart |
Not only was I not able to eat, smell food or any food ingredients (and in particular, garlic), I was also not able to read or see food anywhere. I just felt nauseous by the sight of it. Be it on TV or magazines, billboard, you name it. I was pretty miserable. Thus the sudden absence from this blog :(. It's like I totally became a different person. Food was always an event for me before, an entertainment. But then it became sort of my nemesis. I lost weight, I even stayed away from the food channel. This is unheard of! It was national geographic all the way for me. Also some soothing documentaries on NHK World :D. Yes, I find the documentaries on their channel very soothing. Nice choice of background music, easy yet entertaining flow of story telling, it's like going to a spa. Sort of. My fave in particular was the 72 hour documentary, it's very interesting to be looking at glimpses of people's lives like that, contemplating on our short time on earth and the meaning of life itself. Pretty deep stuff. How very uncharacteristic of me.
I even developed a taste for food I didn't care for before, such as; banana cake and red bean bao, to name a few. These however are my husband's favorite things to eat. Weird. I actually downgraded myself to his taste :P. Thank goodness I didn't develop any cravings for durian :D. That would be the pits for sure :D. Other pregnancy woes also included acid reflux, shortness of breath and the constant nausea. Nothing unheard of before, but it was a first for me.
Of course, all the pregnancy challenges I went through felt like nothing after Hassan was born. Forgotten, like they never happened. And that's only because the challenges that come next after he was born was even more.....special :D. Though the fact that he is super cute helps making it more bearable. Of course, I say he's cute because I'm the mommy.
Anyways, I decided to start writing today to document the simple yet brilliant (in my opinion) recipe of the yummiest porridge I've ever had, bar none. And being an avid porridge lover myself, this is saying a lot.
This porridge was made as a side product when I was making another chicken dish today. Rather than throw away the bones, I decided to make chicken stock out of them. I shall call it 'nude stock' as the stock really did not have anything in it, except they were only boiled down for hours over low heat. The result was nothing short of amazing. The layers of flavor was just incredible!!*love.
Although I think the choice of chicken used made a difference. I used frozen chicken to be honest, Frangosul brand. There are two frozen chicken brands that I think tastes even better than fresh chicken: Sadia and Frangosul. Between the two, I think Frangosul taste better. The chicken meat tastes sweeter somehow, very noticeable difference to me. I don't go to the market everyday. Grocery shopping is only done once a week, therefore frozen meats seem like a better idea for me.
 |
| Source: http://www.fairprice.com.sg/ |
The full process are the following:
1. I boiled down the bones for approximately 3-4 hours over low heat, took out whatever impurities that come out along the way.
2. When the stock seems ready, I did not take out the bones, but I added washed rice (that's right; rice that has been washed again), along with some clean water and boil that down for the next hour or so.
3. After the rice has broken down into your desired consistency, add a little bit of salt. Keep in mind not to add too much, just enough so that you can taste a hint of saltiness only. I learn from my mom that this method makes the dish even more irresistible because you're letting the precious chicken stock shines.
4. Add beaten chicken egg little by little as you would when making egg drop soup.
5. Turn off the heat and add in chopped up scallions.
My daughter, Naylla, is in no way a fan of porridge. The congee that she had at the child care centre she went to when she was small has ruined it for her permanently it seems :D. But, she is crazy about this porridge!! So, I'm pretty confident that this recipe is a winner, a keeper :).
Complete recipe for Yummiest Porridge:
Frangosul chicken griller size 1 KG
1 small bowl washed rice (about 5 tbs)
1 small bowl of chopped scallions
1 beaten eggs
Salt to taste
Enjoy!
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