To Begin
In a bowl, marinade minced pork with soy sauce, pepper and sesame oil. Mix well and set aside.
Place washed rice in a large pot. Add soaked scallops and water. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat to medium and tilt the lid. Allow to simmer while stirring occasionally for 30 mins. If congee becomes too thick at any point, add in ½ cup water and stir to dilute.
Using clean hands, drop in marinated minced pork bit by bit to break into small chunks. Add salt and continue to simmer for 5-10 mins until minced pork is cooked.
Transfer to individual serving bowls and garnish with spring onions, ginger and fried shallots. Drizzle with a few drops of sesame oil and soy sauce according to taste. Add a dash of ground white pepper if desired.
Rice
Fish Congee
To Begin
In a bowl, marinade fish slices with soy sauce, ground pepper and sesame oil for 30 mins.
Meanwhile, place washed rice in a large pot, Add ginger and water. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat to medium and tilt the lid. Allow to simmer while stirring occasionally for 30 mins. If congee becomes too thick at any point, add in ½ cup water and stir to dilute.
Once the congee is ready, put in marinated fish slices and salt. Stir well to combine. Continue to cook for another 3 mins until fish is cooked.
Transfer to individual bowls and garnish with spring onions, ginger, coriander and You Char Kway. Drizzle a few drops of sesame oil and soy sauce. Add a dash of ground pepper if desired.
Braised Daikon with Minced Pork (Daikon no Soboro-an)
To Cook
In a pot, place the daikon and rice and add water to cover daikon. Bring to boil, cook for 10 mins or until the daikon is nearly cooked through. Drain well.
Rinse with cold water. Drain well.
In a frying pan, heat oil over medium heat, add mince and stir-fry to break the lumps, until the colour turns pale brown.
Add the daikon and stir, then mix in the rests of the ingredients, other than the cornflour solution. Cover the surface with a drop lid or a piece of aluminium foil with holes on it.
Turn the heat to low when it starts boiling. Cook for 10 mins.
Remove the drop lid and add the well-mixed cornflour solution.
Turn the heat off when the sauce is thickened and serve with spring onion garnish.
Japanese Garlic Fried Rice
To Cook
Cook the sushi rice in a rice cooker. When done, scoop into a bowl and let it air dry.
Mince 2 of the garlic cloves and slice the other 2 cross-wise (so that you can see the hole in the middle).
Pick the leaves off the parsley and finely chop them.
Heat up the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium-low heat and fry the garlic slices until they are golden brown (do not overcook them otherwise they will be bitter). Set aside to be served with the garlic fried rice.
In the same pan with the oil, stir-fry the minced garlic until fragrant. Then add the butter into the pan and let it melt and infuse with the garlic and olive oil.
Swirl the butter and oil around to coat the pan then add the cooked rice. Using a wooden spoon or spatula break up the rice into small chunks and mix well with the butter.
Add the soy sauce and toss to coat the rice with the soy sauce.
Season with salt and pepper, then stir in the chopped parsley leaves.
Garnish with the fried garlic slices and serve hot.
Pine Nut Congee (Jatjuk)
To Cook
Rinse and drain the soaked short-grain rice. Place it into a blender, add in the pine nuts and 2 cups of water. Blend for approximately 3 mins until the mixture turns into a milky white liquid.
Pour the milky liquid into a pot and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally for about 2 minutes. Add salt to taste and allow to cook for another 5 minutes, continue to stir.
The congee will turn into a soupy consistency. Turn heat off and transfer to a serving bowl. Garnish with some pine nuts and serve hot.
Japanese Seven Herb Rice Congee (Nanakusa Gayu)
To Begin
Drain soaked rice and place in a claypot. Add 1 cup of water and bring to boil over medium high heat. Once boiling, turn the heat down to the lowest heat setting on the stove and gently stir to avoid rice sticking to the bottom of the claypot. Cover claypot with lid and allow to simmer the rice for about 30 minutes.
Then turn heat and let it sit with lid on for a further 10 minutes. The rice should be soft and thickened.
Remove lid, add nanakusa and stir gently, then add salt to taste. Serve hot.
Note:
For fresh nanakusa, blanch herbs in boiling water with a pinch of salt for a few seconds. Remove from boiling water and rinse under cool running water. Drain and squeeze water out, finely chop herbs and allow to dry.
Vietnamese Chicken Congee (Chao Ga)
To Cook
In a large stock pot, place the chicken in and fill with enough water to cover the chicken. Add 1 peeled whole onion and 1 tbsp salt to the pot and bring to a boil over high heat. And then turn the heat down to medium and let chicken cook for a further 30-45 minutes, or until tender. Remove any froth or foam that appears on the surface.
Retain liquid in the stock pot and remove chicken from the pot and rinse under cold water to cool down and avoid discoloring. Shred the chicken meat and set aside.
Drain soaked rice and glutinous rice, adding them along with the ginger and shallot to the broth in the stock pot. Let it sit for 45 minutes untouched.
After 45 minutes, give the rice a stir and bring to boil over medium high heat for a further 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then season to taste with salt, fish sauce and chicken stock.
Transfer and serve in individual serving bowls. Top with the shredded chicken and. garnish with chopped spring onion, coriander or Vietnamese mint, and fried shallots.
Korean Chicken Congee (Dakjuk)
To Cook
Drain soaked rice. Heat oil in a medium sized pot over medium high heat. Add drained rice and saute for about 2 minutes. Add in chicken stock and bring to boil. Then lower heat and let it simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to avoid rice sticking to the bottom of the pot.
After 15 minutes, add in the finely chopped carrot and garlic. Allow to cook for a further 15 minutes, continue to stir occasionally.
The rice should soften and thicken up by then. Turn heat off and add in spring onions and Korean chives. Stir evenly and serve onto individual serving bowls, and garnish with toasted sesame seeds.
Filipino Chicken Porridge (Arroz Caldo)
To Cook
Heat oil in a small pan over low heat. Gently cook the garlic until lightly golden. Dish out onto paper towels to drain off excess oil. Set aside.
Heat oil in a pot over medium heat and throw in onions, garlic and ginger. Stir constantly and cook until softened and fragrant.
Put in the chicken pieces and continue to stir-fry until lightly browned. Pour in fish sauce and let it cook for 2 mins.
Pour in uncooked rice and stir constantly until lightly browned. Then, add in water and allow to boil. Remove any froth on the surface of the water.
Drop in bouillon cubes and stir until dissolved. Bring the fire to a simmer and cook until the porridge has thickened. Stir occasionally to keep the porridge from sticking to the bottom. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Transfer to serving bowls and top with boiled egg, spring onions and fried garlic bits. Serve with a side of calamansi lime or lemon.
Korean Bibimbap with Chicken Bulgogi
To Prep
Add all chicken bulgogi ingredients into a mixing bowl. Combine well and cover with a cling film. Leave to marinate in a refrigerator for 1 hr.
To Cook
In a fry pan, heat up 2 tbsp oil, sesame oil and soy sauce. Mix well and toss in sesame seeds to fry. Scoop out ⅔ of this mix and set aside. Add drained spinach into the pan, add in salt to taste and saute for 1 min. Dish out the spinach and set aside. Now add in mushrooms and salt to taste. Stir fry over medium heat until cooked. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Then stir fry julienned carrots and transfer to a bowl once done.
Take out marinated chicken from the refrigerator. Cook the chicken in sesame oil mix kept aside earlier in a pan. Dish out and set aside.
Finally, add some oil to the pan (if required) and fry the eggs, sunny side up style.
In a serving bowl, add a bowl or rice and top it with equal portions of chicken, spinach, mushrooms and carrots. Place a fried egg on top. Repeat for all serving bowls.
Mix bibimbap sauce ingredients until well combined and serve as accompanying sauce.
Waxed Meat Claypot Rice (Lap Mei Fan)
To Cook
Combine some pepper, salt and cornstarch to form a marinade in a bowl. Marinate the chicken meat in the mixture for 10 mins.
In a claypot, add the rice and water. Bring to a boil.
Blanch the vegetables separately and leave to the side.
Lower the heat when the rice has boiled. Leave to simmer for 5-6 mins or until the rice is partially cooked. Place the marinated chicken on the rice.
Leave to simmer for approximately 10 mins or until the water is absorbed and rice is cooked.
Place the sausages and vegetables on top of the chicken.
Combine the light and dark soy sauce with the oyster sauce together in a small bowl. Pour on top of the claypot rice. Turn off the heat, cover the lid and leave to simmer for 5 mins.
Garnish with spring onions and sesame oil.
Thai Black Sticky Rice Popsicle with Coconut and Mango
To Cook
Purée mango with juice of ½ a lime in a blender.
Fill popsicle moulds ⅓ high with mango purée and place in freezer to set.
Drain black rice of soaking liquid and rinse until water runs clear.
Place in a pot with pandanus leaf or vanilla pod and 2½ cups water. Bring to a boil, then gently simmer for 30 mins until rice is tender and most water has been absorbed. Cover and leave to steam for 15 mins. Remove pandanus leaf or vanilla pod.
Place coconut milk, sugar and salt in a pot and heat only until sugar has dissolved.
Mix half the coconut milk into the rice and stir together. Allow to cool.
Fill popsicle moulds with sticky rice mixture until ⅔ full. Gently spoon remaining sweetened coconut milk into popsicle moulds until filled.
Place a popsicle stick into each mould and freeze overnight.