Teochew porridge
Rice cooked in plenty of water only until the grains are soft but whole, eaten with a spread of small salty dishes.
What makes it teochew porridge
- Grains soft but still whole, in plenty of loose, cloudy water.
- Plain and unseasoned.
- Eaten with several small, salty side dishes.
Where it comes from
Unlike Cantonese congee, Teochew porridge keeps its grains: it's a thin, clear rice soup, plain and unseasoned, and the flavour is all in the side dishes — salted egg, preserved radish omelette, pickled mustard greens, braised duck or goose, steamed fish, fried peanuts.
Emigrants took it to South-East Asia, where Teochew porridge stalls in Singapore and Malaysia lay out dozens of dishes to point at, and in Bangkok it is the late-night khao tom kui. It's often said to have been the food of poor households making a little rice go far.
How it varies
- Fish porridge
- Cooked with slices of fresh fish and a little fish sauce and celery.
- Sweet potato porridge
- With chunks of sweet potato, once a way to stretch the rice.
Be the first here
Start your own teochew porridgeNo one here has made teochew porridge yet. Start it as v1, and every version after is an experiment the next cook can learn from.
Near it
CantoneseCongeeRice simmered in plenty of water until the grains break down into a smooth, silky porridge, with something savoury stirred in.No one here has made it yetTeochewTeochew braised gooseA whole goose simmered in a dark, spiced master stock of soy, galangal and rock sugar, sliced thin and served with garlic vinegar.No one here has made it yet