Whats for breakfast?

Bill44's picture
Bill44

Ah Sunday, sleep in? Nope, up at 5.30AM to cook breakfast.
Jook (Congee) which takes 2 hours to cook, served with prawns, sliced egg omelete and shallot greens. Accompanied by a plate full of crullers (deep fried dough). AH, well worth the early rise.

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Jeremy's picture
Jeremy 2006 September 17

Hey watch the arteries Bill, I just had a bowl of Korean kimchee with stirfried pork, vegetables and a fried egg, doused with two OB beers!
whew! Will post some pics![img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/jergra/Picture7.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/jergra/Picture13.jpg[/img]
What's congee?
[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/jergra/Picture4.jpg[/img]
This was a killer "jungle curry" I had at a local Thai restaurant, whew I was sweating and in tears, needless to say I had lots of Singha to quench that fire and stumbled my way home with dragon breath!

Jeremy

Bill44's picture
Bill44 2006 September 17

[quote="Jeremy"]
What's congee?
[/quote]
Basically it's rice porrige, but if you cook it with some good chicken stock as well as the water, then near the end add some goodies like prawns, fish balls, pork balls, pigs liver, chicken, eggs, or whatever takes your fancy, it is a taste delight.
Usually accompanied by deep fried dough (crullers), which is a mixture of flour, salt, water, alum, and baking soda, kneaded and matured overnight, then cut, stretched, and assembled in a way that is better seen than described, and quickly deep fried in hot peanut oil. They puff up into the most tasty things to eat with congee.

carla's picture
carla 2006 September 17

How funny Bill - I have just eaten a bowl of Congee myself here (at the puter) for lunch. Although I only cooked it for 20 minutes as it was made from leftover soggy brown rice from last nights dinner (which had been re-heated). I added rocket, spring-onion and chicken (was cooked in chicken broth) and a boiled egg on top with lots of chilli.
Unfortunately I am on fat-free low-carb meals for a while to battle the bulge - before it starts to bulge earnestly and in anticipation of a hot dry summer. Now that El Nino is clearly visible on the water temp maps!

Jeremy's picture
Jeremy 2006 September 17

Hey all you congee lovers, it's sort of a risotto? You could also try spelt or farro as the Italians call it or even barley! As well wheat grain is great for salads with beets and a multitude of stuff! Do you get Quinoa there? It's really good and the highest source of protein!

Jeremy

Bill44's picture
Bill44 2006 September 17

[quote="Jeremy"]
Hey all you congee lovers, it's sort of a risotto? You could also try spelt or farro as the Italians call it or even barley! As well wheat grain is great for salads with beets and a multitude of stuff! Do you get Quinoa there? It's really good and the highest source of protein!Jeremy
[/quote]
Forget risotto! This stuff is Chinese in origin although variations are eaten in most SE Asian countries. In its basic form it resembles walpaper paste with very small lumps in it.

The rice is boiled with quite a bit of water until the rice grains break down into a "gloop" or if you're Chinese "Jook".

Jeremy's picture
Jeremy 2006 September 17

In Ecuador(my wifes town to be exact!) they have a similar dish called arroz mote, unsalte white rice, you serve it with a piece of grilled meat (Guinea Pig if you like?Joking, though it's a delicacy there ) a bit of fresh cheese on top of the arroz(rice), by the way[url]http://www.ecuador-images.net/town-zaruma8.jpg[/url]

Jeremy

carla's picture
carla 2006 September 17

It is a rather gluggy affair Jeremy - nothing to do with risotto - wallpaper-glue is about right Bill

I ate it first years ago on a stop-over in Singapore (that stopover cost 25NZ$ then) and you got a lot for that money: Pick-up and delivery by shuttle bus from airport to hotel in the evening. Nice hotel-room (once they apologised that our booked room was not available - would we mind taking a suite?), and absolutely stunning breakfast buffet the next morning including European breakfast options (including cereal, danish plunder stuff, joghurts the lot!), Asian things (including congee, fried fish with peanuts and much more), and a cook behind a counter doing eggs just as you liked it! And of course different breads and spreads, and fresh tropical fruit. Then checkout at lunchtime and a free city tour and some afternoon goodies to eat in a foodhall (had to pay that ourselves) and finally transport back to the airport. It was amazing value!

Ever since I like congee

Bill44's picture
Bill44 2006 September 17

Yep, we like it too. Usually have it about every 3 weeks, we used prawns this time as we have run out of pork balls or fish balls.

SourYumMum's picture
SourYumMum 2006 September 17

Bill - poor fish. Poor pig. Bibina sometimes has quinoa!

Jeremy - that makes me hungry because ....

.... Carla, me too on the fat/carbs. And to think I was just mounding up a heap of spuds today. Christine the dietitian tells me that strawberries are a 'free' food and you can eat as much as you can handle.

Carol.

carla's picture
carla 2006 September 17

Carol anything from the garden is "free" foods.
I never stick to any regime if I need to lose some weight, but just eat fresh fruit and vegies as much as I like. A bit of olive oil on the salad and no carbs after 4pm, so they cannot end up on the hips. Fairly simple really.
Looking forward to lots of lettuce and endive now the spring has arrived and everything is trying to bolt.

SourYumMum's picture
SourYumMum 2006 September 17

Bolt, indeed, Carla! We are adding our 3 foot high coriander plants to everything at the moment!!

My husband and I are both on the volunteer register with a medical research group at the university - they currently have a 'nutraceuticals' study looking at the role of Omega 3 oils in weight loss and maintenance - which we are both involved in. Another study they are doing is the effect of red wine on blood clotting - wish I had known about THAT one first!!

Jeremy - I think I saw that dish on Lonely Planet once! The guinea pigs had sticks shoved up their bums and they were roasted. Kinda like a pluto pup/dagwood dog/whatever you guys call them!

Carol.

TeckPoh's picture
TeckPoh 2006 September 17

Hey! You guys have really been busy jook-ing half the day. 'Jook' is in the cantonese dialect. And, the style described by Bill is cantonese (I'm half cantonese/half Hakka)....and Bill and Carla, your jook sounds GOOD! Have you tried them with deep-fried spiced spare parts? Hubby's family, being Teochews, do another type of congee/rice porridge called 'mueh' in their lingo. You basically just boil the rice in lots of water (1 rice:6-8 water) till the rice grains open...a quickie. You accompany it with all sorts of dishes. Here's a pic I took in April at one newly-opened Teochew 'mueh' restaurant. It's easy to get carried away.

[img]http://static.flickr.com/85/245177482_b20609b6be_o.jpg[/img]

TeckPoh's picture
TeckPoh 2006 September 17

Oh yeah...ladies. Low carb is the way to go. I had a tough time losing weight until I skipped carb at dinner time. And absolutely no supper. Try to skip sweet fruity drinks too. I ate lots of chocolates, though. Finally, I'm at the 95 lb plateau but last week's marathon baking did me in...gained a kg around the middle!! Aaarghhhh!

Bill44's picture
Bill44 2006 September 17

Hi TP, yep just love the spare parts. When we visit Chinatown in Sydney I always order the "Traditional" Congee for breakfast and I am always asked "Sir, do you know what is in it?"
So Cantonese/Hakka, half land/half water and a 95lb giant, I weigh in at 84Kg (185lb)

On the subject of "interesting" food I used to eat a fair bit of Pancit Guisado, which is a Filipino/Chinese dish made of noodles and chicken innards, yummy.

Jeremy's picture
Jeremy 2006 September 17

Innards? wheh my brothers in laws swear to Bulls .....oops if I start now Ana Kournikova will re-appear!
1 kilo! TP your kiddng! Gonna have to get you on a treadmill or some other form of excercise!

J

Jeremy's picture
Jeremy 2006 September 18

This is the Ecuadorian version of tripe (yuch!)Must be my Hebraic side coming out!
[url]http://www.geocities.com/napavalley/1155/recetas/fguata.html[/url]
Never liked tripe, my mother being French thinks it's fab, I do love blood sausage though!
And this is one of my favorite Ecuadorian breakfast foods!
[img]http://www.geocities.com/napavalley/1155/images/bolon.jpg[/img]

When I start recipes on my website this will be one, made these "bolon de verde" with port salut cheese and smoked applewood bacon! Delicious!

Jeremy

SourYumMum's picture
SourYumMum 2006 September 18

Funny how many of the worlds peoples/tribes/groups enjoy the 'fifth quarter' as it's known.

Being descended from a long line of Scots, I'm quite fond of certain parts of the interior!!!

And a good black pudding/blood sausage is a thing of joy!!

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