Pork and Dried Oyster Porridge

Pork Porridge with Dried Oysters

Let’s cook porridge / congee today! I like to eat porridge especially on for lunch on weekends. It is light and suitable on hot days especially when you want to eat something non-oily. When I plan to cook porridge for lunch, I will usually drop by at the wet market in the morning to buy yau char kuey (fritters) to compliment the porridge.

Porridge can be cooked with many different types of ingredients. Actually, the types of ingredients are only limited by one’s imagination. Here, I have added minced pork, pork liver and dried oysters. The dried oysters add a little sweetness to the porridge whilst the other ingredients each have its individual taste. I also like to break an egg into the bowl prior to pouring boiling hot porridge over it. It is a taste I acquired since young (runs in the family).

Give this recipe a try. If some of the ingredients are not your type, feel free to omit them or substitute them. If you need clarification, just post them in the comments below.

This is my recipe for Pork and Dried Oyster Porridge

Ingredients

• Approximately 50 to 100 grammes of rice (rinsed once and pre-soaked in water for 30 minutes)
• 100 grammes of minced pork
• 50 grammes of pork liver (sliced)
• 5 to 10 pieces of dried oyster (pre-soaked in water for 30 minutes and cut into half)
• 1 to 2 pieces of yau char kuey (cut across like in the picture above)
• 4 cloves of shallots (sliced thinly)
• 3 eggs
• 3 bowls of Water
• 2 tablespoons of palm oil
• 3 teaspoons sesame oil

Marinade (for minced pork)

• 3 teaspoons of light soya sauce
• a couple of dashes of white pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon of corn flour

Seasoning

• 2 teaspoons light soya sauce
• Salt
• White pepper powder

Garnishing

• Chopped spring onions
• Chinese salted vegetables or Tung Chai
  

Method

Marinade minced pork for 15 minutes or more.

Place water in a cooking pot and add rice. Cover with lid and bring to boil. Unlid and reduce heat to medium low and cook till rice becomes porridge / cooked and broken (approximately 20 minutes). Add a little hot water when it becomes too dry. You shall strive to cook it a little runny in consistency. Midway through cooking, add the oysters.

Meanwhile, place cut yau char kuey into a toaster oven to toast it till crisp. At the same time, heat oil in wok and fry the sliced shallots till golden brown. Remove fried shallots and set aside.

Once you have cooked the porridge, bring to boil again and add the minced pork (using a teaspoon, scoop one teaspoon of minced meat at a time) and stir. After you have finished adding all the minced pork, add the pork liver and stir the porridge till pork liver is cooked (no more blood oozing out - yes, I know it sounds gross but it’s delicious, I tell you!). Add seasoning to taste.

To serve, break an egg into bowl (you will have about 3 servings here) and pour boiling hot porridge over the egg. Drizzle one teaspoon sesame oil and add garnishing. If you still have some of the oil used to fry the shallots, drizzle a bit as well. Finally, sprinkle the toasted and crispy yau char kuey and fried shallots over the porridge.

Enjoy! I know it may sound a bit complicated but it is actually very easy to cook if you try it.