Recipes that matter
This particular entry comes at a sad time in life. I got home from a stressful day at work with the news of my grandfather nearing the end of his time with us. It's a funny thing and we as humans all seem to react differently to this. Knowing his last few days are at hand, I've been thinking back on the last day we spent together. My grandmother had gone out to buy ingredients for lunch. My grandad and I were sat at breakfast; me being my usual self and eating breakfast of last night's noodles (which IS socially acceptable in Malaysia and after a big night out) and my grandad tinkering with with a padlock; one of several hundred in the household. This one was for the car boot I think. His car boot is always empty; go figure...
After a congee lunch, which will be the recipe for this post after the emotional drivel is mopped off of the floor, he and my grandma took me to the bus station. Another twenty minute wait of us talking together before I got on the bus back to Singapore. I remember looking out of the window to see both grandparents running/hobbling at great speed towards me as the bus pulled out of the station. A smiling face with brilliant-White false teeth is what I will always remember as the last time I saw my Grandfather in the flesh.
I was remembering today over my congee lunch I had from a place near my office just how much he loved the stuff; a clear rice porridge with fried onion and soy sauce to add flavour to an otherwise bland medium. I thought about how it could be turned into a little more special, something worthy of remembrance.
So. Get your pans on the heat and your kettles on the boil. Time to cook us some congee...
Serves 4
Kit:
Deep sauce pan
Spatula
Small poaching pan
Bowl/mug
Ingredients:
24 medium prawns, in the shell but heads off
1 chicken breast, sliced into strips
Chinese dried mushroom (or fresh shiitake if you raid the tesco's finest range in the veg section.
Rice for 4, 100-125grams should do it. You will probably have leftovers.
Bunch of fresh coriander. Must be fresh for this one.
Fresh ginger. Half a thumb*** sliced into matchsticks
Deep-fried onions (shallots best. You can get these from an Asian supermarket)
Fish sauce
Soy sauce
First thing to do. Soak the dried mushrooms in water overnight. If using fresh, skip this bit. Either method you'll need to slice the mushrooms when...sliceable.
Get the rice in the water, I'd say 4:1 water:rice minimum for this one, it's quite...soupy. Bring to the boil and let is stay there for 20 minutes; worried about overcooking? If so, try a different recipe. Whilst this is on the boil, boil some more water and poach the strips until cooked. I won't put a time because I don't want you to sue me. Get the sliced mushrooms in the same pan and cook together. Remove from the water and discard water, then get some fresh water for the prawns. Poach until just cooked and plunge chicken, prawn and mushrooms into ice water to stop the cooking process. Peel the prawns once cool and chop into cubes.
Get the porridge into bowls and add fish sauce and soy sauce to taste. I'd go easy on the fish sauce if you're a first timer, this stuff kicks like a mule. Then add the chicken, prawns and sliced mushrooms to the mix, followed by the fresh ginger and fried shallot. Tear up some fresh coriander (or "cilantro" if you don't speak English properly- to cover myself, I mean Americans and Australians. Maybe New Zealanders, South africans. You get the picture....) and serve.
The texture takes some getting used to but overall, this version should be a nice, fresh way to share a memory with me. If it isn't to your liking, blame my grandad. Congee addict. I apologise for the dribble; I know I promised to clear it up but turns out I missed a spot.
So there we have it; my last loving memory of my grandad in the form of food. Treat this recipe with respect; there are a few allowances but please, as my grandad used to say, just do as you're bloody told.
*** (People seem to measure this on thumbs and I've never understood why. Horses and hands are a similarly counterintuitive nominate-denominator pairing.)
After a congee lunch, which will be the recipe for this post after the emotional drivel is mopped off of the floor, he and my grandma took me to the bus station. Another twenty minute wait of us talking together before I got on the bus back to Singapore. I remember looking out of the window to see both grandparents running/hobbling at great speed towards me as the bus pulled out of the station. A smiling face with brilliant-White false teeth is what I will always remember as the last time I saw my Grandfather in the flesh.
I was remembering today over my congee lunch I had from a place near my office just how much he loved the stuff; a clear rice porridge with fried onion and soy sauce to add flavour to an otherwise bland medium. I thought about how it could be turned into a little more special, something worthy of remembrance.
So. Get your pans on the heat and your kettles on the boil. Time to cook us some congee...
Serves 4
Kit:
Deep sauce pan
Spatula
Small poaching pan
Bowl/mug
Ingredients:
24 medium prawns, in the shell but heads off
1 chicken breast, sliced into strips
Chinese dried mushroom (or fresh shiitake if you raid the tesco's finest range in the veg section.
Rice for 4, 100-125grams should do it. You will probably have leftovers.
Bunch of fresh coriander. Must be fresh for this one.
Fresh ginger. Half a thumb*** sliced into matchsticks
Deep-fried onions (shallots best. You can get these from an Asian supermarket)
Fish sauce
Soy sauce
First thing to do. Soak the dried mushrooms in water overnight. If using fresh, skip this bit. Either method you'll need to slice the mushrooms when...sliceable.
Get the rice in the water, I'd say 4:1 water:rice minimum for this one, it's quite...soupy. Bring to the boil and let is stay there for 20 minutes; worried about overcooking? If so, try a different recipe. Whilst this is on the boil, boil some more water and poach the strips until cooked. I won't put a time because I don't want you to sue me. Get the sliced mushrooms in the same pan and cook together. Remove from the water and discard water, then get some fresh water for the prawns. Poach until just cooked and plunge chicken, prawn and mushrooms into ice water to stop the cooking process. Peel the prawns once cool and chop into cubes.
Get the porridge into bowls and add fish sauce and soy sauce to taste. I'd go easy on the fish sauce if you're a first timer, this stuff kicks like a mule. Then add the chicken, prawns and sliced mushrooms to the mix, followed by the fresh ginger and fried shallot. Tear up some fresh coriander (or "cilantro" if you don't speak English properly- to cover myself, I mean Americans and Australians. Maybe New Zealanders, South africans. You get the picture....) and serve.
The texture takes some getting used to but overall, this version should be a nice, fresh way to share a memory with me. If it isn't to your liking, blame my grandad. Congee addict. I apologise for the dribble; I know I promised to clear it up but turns out I missed a spot.
So there we have it; my last loving memory of my grandad in the form of food. Treat this recipe with respect; there are a few allowances but please, as my grandad used to say, just do as you're bloody told.
*** (People seem to measure this on thumbs and I've never understood why. Horses and hands are a similarly counterintuitive nominate-denominator pairing.)
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