Additional explorations into Chinese culture and cuisine has come down to figuring out a few basic breakfast meals. Many of the people from China depend on rice for a greater portion of their food, including for breakfast. Congee is a Chinese porridge made from rice instead of oats and grains in the West. It’s a simple Chinese recipe that fills you up quick, is healthy, and energizes you for the day. Made from a simple concoction of water and rice, and often flavored with sweet and savory toppings, it’s a versatile dish that’s a lot healthier than the packages of processed cereals found in your local Wal-mart.

Don’t get me wrong, I love cereal. It’s sweet and filling and I grew up on the stuff. I also know that by mid-morning, I’m usually hungry again, whereas the Chinese rarely eat snacks. They completely fill themselves three times a day, fueling their bodies as much as possible.

Chinese porridge is made from about three tablespoons of dried rice boiled and cooked in about 4 cups of water for a long time, usually about 50 minutes, until the rice is mushy and the porridge is thick. Topped with fish, bits of meat, or vegetables, while the base recipe is the same, the flavor can change with what you add to it.

Photo by indyz

Since my new favorite combination of flavors is the holy trinity of Chinese cooking, (spring onion, garlic and ginger), I plan to make this dish very soon. Since it takes quite a bit of time to let the congee cook, I have to wait for the weekend to attempt the recipe. I plan on stir frying the trinity, and perhaps topping with leftover bits of chicken or meat if it’s available.

For a simple Chinese recipe, it’s a staple tradition in the homes of many people across China and neighboring countries. Chinese porridge seems like an inexpensive, healthy dish and I hope to learn the secrets to making it taste great.

So I put together a recipe I used to make stir fried rice. Plus I bookmarked a great stir fry sauce.

The more I cook Chinese food, the more I love the holy trinity in Chinese cooking. Ginger, spring onion (scallions) and garlic. Three ingredients that makes all the difference in a wide variety of food. I love the things I can do with this combination. Rice is less boring. Meats and tofu taste better. Vegetables are a delight. Sauces are more flavorful. It’s a mixture of savory, tart, sweet, salty and pungent. It’s a taste that will begin to seep it’s way into more and more dishes in my kitchen.

Photo by greekgod

Now that I’ve learned about the trinity, I’m on to bigger things. Like perfecting the fine art of cooking a great noodle. My last stir fry noodle batch came out rather… icky. I wasn’t happy with the results, so I’ve got to dig out some noodle recipes.

By the way, if anyone knows how to make “Poor Man’s Noodles”, send over a recipe. I had some in a Thai restaurant and I haven’t found a duplicate recipe yet.

Chinese cooking has become more than an obsession. It is now becoming another edition to the wide range of cooking in my kitchen. Much like a roast and potatoes, or spaghetti dinners, a stir fry rice is another great weekday meal.

Photo by waggaway

I’m looking at investing in a good recipe book for all the new recipes I find on the Internet. I prefer not to drag my netbook into the kitchen with high amounts of wet things flying about, or the possibility of dropping it from the counter. The kitchen isn’t big enough ( I complain, yet the Chinese probably have less space than I do in their kitchens, how do they do it?) for a netbook to sit atop a microwave, a valuable space for a cutting board or a mixing bowl.

So much to learn…

I got through obsessions a lot. There’s a subject or topic that I pick up that is something I will read and study and try to perfect until I know the ins and outs of everything.

This time, it’s cooking healthy. But there’s a catch. The food has to be good, because I’m a picky eater. The food also has to be filling. If I bother to cook or prepare food, I’m not about to go hungry doing so.

It also means being a bit frugal. I’m actually scouting for coupons, checking out grocery deals, and buying the sale products, too.

And I’m learning about Chinese cooking, and how to eat healthy on a Chinese diet. It’s actually going pretty well. I found great recipes for General Tso’s Tofu, which was fantastic. I also tried stir frying and I soon want to try different sauces and mixtures of vegetables and rice. I have a few noodles for this week.

Random comments on this recipe:

This was ABSOLUTELY THE BEST recipe I’ve found on this website so far! I’ve never had the real thing, but DANG!

Next time, I’m doubling the sauce, and adding all the veggies I can get my hands on!

Wow! This is the best recipe from Vegweb I have gotten so far, and I am always impressed with the stuff I find here. I did make some extra sauce, as someone recommended, and I was so glad. That sauce is amazing. I kicked myself for not picking up the shiitake mushrooms I was eyeing at the store, but the snow peas and green pepper were a lovely addition to the recipe. I used SG brown rice for the bottom. Man oh man, this stuff is pure heaven. I could go on for hours…

Photo by Climb3rChick

I completely agree. I made a double sauce one day, without making the tofu, just to top on rice. It was great and lasted in the fridge for about a week. I bought shiitake mushrooms for this recipe and forgot to use them. Maybe next time.

So you may be hearing a lot from me about cooking, the way Chinese and Japanese people eat, healthy food, frugal shopping and more.

One book I’d like to recommend is: Why the Chinese Don’t Count Calories by Lorraine Clissold. It’s a great book with recipes and secrets to how the Chinese eat, and why they are so healthy all the time. It does make a lot of sense to fill up on rice and noodles, eat soup at meals more often, and to center meals around vegetables, not meat. Let the meat flavor the veggies, not the other way around.