Dear LPG readers, 

As promised I decided to avoid all those well-known takeaway favourites and concentrate on the simplest thing possible to commemorate China’s big day.  I went for a traditional bowl of porridge called congee.   I did not study the method in advanced detail, but there were only three basic ingredients so I thought I would give this a try.  

Well, I say only three ingredients but I did try a few variations on the theme with some of the suggested garnishes.  This is the second time I tried a recipe with a minimal amount of basic ingredients and I found that both had something in common because waiting was a big part of the preparation. Apart from that, with a little rice immersed in rather a lot of water followed by a long period of simmering, there was little that I could have got wrong so, at least my version looked like a success.

I was a bit worried about how nothing but water-soaked rice would taste but it was surprisingly creamy even before I added the goji berries and dates.  I also had a go at the savoury version but my taste team agreed that chicken flavoured rice porridge was not their breakfast of choice. I hope that my sweet version did one of the less known Chinese national dishes a little justice.  

November 11th is Poland’s independence day and, as it gets a bit colder for all countries in the northern hemisphere, perhaps their big day might just be the perfect time to try one of their national dishes called Zupa ogórkowa, or Polish dill pickle soup.

 
CB, Lewisham

CB has found a recipe or two…

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