Chinese Chicken Porridge

I love porridge! Its basically rice cooked with lots of water. When I was younger, it would be the only thing that Mom would allow me to eat when I was sick. That and this yucky thing called "mee sua", which is basically this very thin rice noodles with soup - the most disgusting thing ever! Hah, my sis and I would always try to squirm our way out of eating mee sua!

Chinese people believe (and in my opinion, for good reason to) that when one is sick, the body needs "light" food that is easily digestable and processed by the body. Fried, oily food is out of the question. And so is rice persay. But soups, thin noodles, porridge for example are typical staples of people who feel under the weather.

Now that I'm living in Germany, I have to reproduce everything in my own kitchen, since the Chinese restaurants unfortunately do not serve porridge! We don't have any Chinatowns here, you see.

I was determined to get my share of Chicken porridge. And no, its not from the instant chicken granules that you get from the supermarket. The chicken stock from which this porridge was made, was cooked for hours over the stove!!!! It doesn't have the typical artificial flavouring one tastes immediately in most soups of restaurants.

And oh boy, does this really remind me of home! I even bought a 100€ rice / porridge multi-cooker to use in Germany, only to realize that I can't find the suitable adapter to be used here! That means, I have to change the plug myself.... already know someone I can ask!

If you're like me, who enjoys homecooked, healthy goodness and authentic Chinese food, you'll love this recipe!!!

Chinese Chicken Porridge

- 1 cup rice

- Lots of water (I heard the portion should be 1:8, 1 cup rice to 8cups water. But I'm not that precise in my measurements)

- Chicken Stock

- Scallions / Spring onions (chopped for garnishing)

- Dash of light Soya Sauce / Pepper

- Dash of Sesame Oil

1. Prepare the chicken stock. I bought one whole chicken, put it in a pot and covered it with enough water. Then I added 3 pieces of ginger, some whole cloves of garlic, spring onions and one whole onion (peeled).

2. Let the water boil first before bringing it down to a simmer at low heat for about 3-4 hrs. When stock is done, strain it through a sieve so that the stock is clear.

3. In the meantime, soak the rice in water for 2 hours. Remove from water.

4. Put the rice in a non-stick pot, add the chicken stock to the rice and boil it at medium heat, ensuring that there is always enough water / chicken stock such that the porridge does not get stuck to the bottom of the pot.

5. Stir it occassionally for about 1 hr, or until done.

6. Using the chicken from which you made the chicken stock, shred the chicken and add it to the porridge.

7. Season it with seasame oil, soya sauce, pepper. Garnish with spring onions and enjoy!!