Vanessa is back from Hong Kong and she starts work in the community kitchen right away. She made an Iceberg Lettuce Fish Paste Porridge; Hong Kong style, I presumed.
The Iceberg Lettuce Fish Paste Porridge is flavored in a rich broth made from pork bones and dried scallop. A pot a hot porridge is good for days when one does not have appetite to eat. Porridge is easy to the digestive system too.
Ingredients
- Roast pork bone
- Pork bone (“G gin guat” in Cantonese)
- Dried scallop
- Fish paste
- Rice
- Iceberg lettuce
- ground pepper and salt to taste
Click on the link below for the instructions.
Instructions
 Wash and drain the rice and marinate with some salt and a few drops of oil for a few minutes.
Vanessa explained that this method will help the rice to “break” more easily when boil. |
 Reconstitute the dried scallop in some warm water, until they are softened. |
 Blanched the pork bones to remove excess oil and impurities. |
 Wash, drain and thinly slice the iceberg lettuce. |
 Season the store bought fish paste with ground pepper and mix well with a pair of chopsticks. |
 Bring a big pot of water to a boil. Add the rice, pork bones and scallops and bring back to a boil and let cook until the it resembles porridge. This will take at least 45 minutes to an hour. Remove scum when necessary. Stir the pot from time to time so that it wont stick to the pot and burn easily. When the porridge is about 80% done, add in the fish paste in bite size pieces. Season with salt to taste. |
 When the porridge is at the right consistency of your preference, switch off the stove and add in the lettuce and cover the pot. Let sit for a few minutes for the residue heat to wilt the lettuce.
Peggy, a member of the community kitchen told us that we should not use cooked rice to make porridge as it may cause stomach upset. Always use uncooked rice to cook porridge. Do you know any scientific explanation to this? Vanessa, thank you for sharing. |
Hi Suanne,
Thanks for sharing the recipe. It gives a different twist to the version I have been taught. Said that, here are my comments:
1) I don’t think you can make juk with cooked rice, as the starch has already been released from the grains (hence, you can’t get that juk consistency). If you take cooked rice and add tea/soup, you will end up with a Japanese dish called ochazuke.
2) My mother taught me I should put a chunk of ginger. This is to “balance” the effect of the juk (think ying/yang). Not sure if this is true or not, but I trust her wisdom on this one. This might be related to what Peggy mentioned.
3) I remember rinsing the rice and adding some salt and oil to it. It was one of the steps I never understood why I should do. What you mentioned makes sense, specially considering…
4) The type of rice. My mom prefers is the un-polished/chalky type of rice. It goes back to #1.
5) In addition to stirring it from time to time, you should NOT cover it while you are still cooking it. Unlike soups, the conguee will “rise” and spill over, making a big mess.
6) Instead of putting the lettuce (or any other addition) to the big pot, my mother had us add them into our individual bowls. That way, if there are leftovers, you don’t have to worry about the flavour/consistency/anything they can “add” to the juk.
hi susan & fxho,
i past by ur site n i had c ur recipe, also the comment by fxho…..
i agree wit fxho #1, i did try myself…the cooked rice realy cant “break” nicely…..
for #5 i also agree the fxho said, coz i did cover the conguee…its messy all the place….n its dangeous too…..
about putting the lettuce, i also prefer putting it in individual bowls, its because some family member like to add on but some only like the plain….
but u done a good job……its looks delicious….