Teochew Porridge

Teochew Porridge is becoming more popular in Kuching City.  It is plain porridge (unflavoured) served in a bowl accompanied with various side dishes such as meat, fish, egg, vegetables, preserved pickled mustard, etc.

With the weather getting hotter, it is good to serve this comfort food with some favourite side dishes and enjoy in the comfort of our home.

This time round, I am serving 3 side dishes to go along with the plain porridge:-

1. Fried eggs with dark soya sauce;
2. Stewed preserved pickled mustard with pork belly; and
3. Stir-fried eggplant with dried prawns and salted radish

(1)  Fried eggs with dark soya sauce

I believe this simple fried egg is the favourite of many, especially my late father-in-law. Whenever I cook this dish, I always remember him happily finishing off his bowl of plain porridge with full satisfaction on his face. 

What you need to do is:-

• crack 2 eggs into a bowl, 
• season with dash of salt and grounded white pepper, 
• a drizzle of dark soya sauce (amount depending on the type of soya sauce that you use and the color you prefer),
• beat with a fork, 
• heat a flat pan,
• drizzle some oil into the pan and smear over the pan,
• pour in the egg mixture and let it cook using medium-low heat until the eggs are set and the bottom has turned golden brown, turn over and let it fry for another minute,
• Off the heat, dish onto a cutting board, cut it into smaller pieces, and
• Serve on a flat dish.

(2)  Stewed preserved pickled mustard with pork belly

For this dish I am buying the local made preserved pickled mustard from the market.  This is one dish which opens up our taste buds and it goes well with either porridge or rice.

What you need:

• 2 bunch preserved pickled mustard (washed, sliced and set aside for later use)
• 1/2 slab pork belly (remove skin and washed)
• 2 shallots (peeled and sliced)
• 3 cloves garlic (peeled and chopped)
• light soya sauce
• dash of salt (if needed, depending on the saltiness of the preserved pickled mustard)
• dash of msg (to taste)
• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• water for braising

Few simple steps to cook:

1. To start with, boil the pork belly in a pot, fully submerged in water until about 80% cooked, dish onto a plate, sprinkle some salt over it and just before cooking cut into chunks.
2. In a medium heated work (without oil) stir-fry the preserved pickled mustard for about a minute and dish onto a plate.
3. In a clean medium heated wok, add 1 tbsp cooking oil, fry the pork belly pieces, stirring often until lightly brown and the fat has been released into the wok, dish onto a plate and leaving the oil in the wok.  
4. In the same wok saute the shallots and garlic until fragrant, add in the preserved pickled mustard and pork belly, stir to mix.  Add a sprinkle of light soya sauce and continue to stir.  Add in a bowl of water, stir and cover with lid to braise until the pork belly is soft.  In between, taste for correct seasoning, adding salt and dash of msg if needed.  Add more water along the way.
5. Once the dish is cooked, off the heat and dish onto a serving plate.

(3)  Stir-fried eggplant with dried prawns and salted radish 

What you need:

• 1 medium eggplant (washed and thinly sliced just before cooking)
• 1/2 tbsp dried prawns (washed, soaked and drained)
• 1/2 tbsp salted radish (chopped)
• 1 shallot (peeled and sliced)
• 2 clove garlic (peeled and chopped)
• drizzle of dark soya sauce
• salt (to taste)
• dash of sugar (to taste)
• water
• 1 1/2 tbsp cooking oil

How to go about:

1. In a medium heated wok add cooking oil, saute shallot and garlic, then add dried prawns, salted radish and stir-fry until fragrant.
2. Add in eggplant, stir-fry to mix, then add salt. sugar, dark soya sauce and some water and continue to stir-fry until eggplant is soft.  While stir-frying taste for correct seasoning and add more water when necessary.
3. Off the heat, dish onto a plate and ready to serve.