I'm having a massive homesickness syndrome.
One of the symptom is sudden craving to food from home.
I used to have this rice congee for breakfast, from a food stall near my house. We just need to bring our own crockery, and ate them in the comfort of our dining table. No need to balance on a tiny wooden stool.
Well, there's hardly a recipe, I just made it up as I go, it had quite a lot of elements though (masterchef-y language - "elements"), to simplify the assembly of the dish, just put all the elements on tiny plates, so people can help themselves.
rice congee :
2 cups vegie stock (or water + 1/2 cube of vegie buillon)
1 cup cooked rice (I used leftover rice, or 1/2 cup uncooked)
braised wom bok :
2 cups wombok, shredded
sriracha sauce
2 drops of sesame oil
Stir fry tofu :
1/2 pack of firm tofu (if you want dryer texture, freeze the tofu, thaw, and squeeze the excess liquid)
1/2 cup mushroom
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp tamari
salt and pepper to taste
toppings (optional, but highly recommended):
kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
1/3 cup toasted slivered almonds, toasted
chopped parsley
sriracha sauce
how to :
bring the stock to the boil in a pot, and add the rice, bring it to boil and stir to prevent the rice grain from sticking and burning.
Turn down the heat, and simmer for 30-40 min, until the texture is silky and smooth, and the grains are broken down.
in frying pan, heat oil, add wombok, stir for 30 seconds, add a splash of water, and cover to wilt them.
while waiting the congee and wombok to cook, sliced the tofu into tiny batons (or matchsticks), slice the garlic and the 'shrooms.
uncover the wombok, add sriracha sauce a tiny bit at a time (this sauce is sooo hot!!), add sesame oil. stir, for a few minutes, until completety wilted and transparent.
transfer to a plate. Don't wash the pan yet, we'll use it for the tofu.
Don't forget to stir the congee at this point!!
heat up 1 tsp of oil in the frypan, fry the tofu and mushrooms, add garlic, salt and pepper.
after the tofu looked nice and golden, add tamari.
transfer the tofu to another plate.
after the congee looked silky and smooth, ladle to a bowl.
add wom bok, tofu, and sprinkle with almonds, and parsley, drizzle with a bit of kecap manis, and sriracha.
eat s l o w l y...
