Sweet Potato Rice Porridge (Congee)

Some days, all you want for dinner is simple wholesome comfort food. Times like these I turn to the humble sweet potato. The sweet potato is also known here in Malaysia as ubi keledek (Malay), faan shi (Cantonese) or han cher (hokkien). It is also found elsewhere in the western world.

Other than having it deep fried as a snack or in dessert soups (Please see my previous recipe for sweet potato and ginger dessert soup) or even just baked, I sometimes like my sweet potato cooked in rice porridge or congee.

Sweet Potato in Rice Porridge is a traditional dish which my forefathers survived on during WWII when food was scarce and all they had was sweet potatoes found in abundance in the ground. Rice and Sweet Potato being carbohydrates, it isn’t the most healthy dish of all, but it fills you up and keeps you alive.

With better times comes better food but there are times when all you want is a touch of nostalgia so I decided to cook myself some sweet potato rice porridge (congee). Here’s how I cooked this easy dish.

What you need:-

• half a cup of washed rice
• a mix of yellow and orange sweet potato peeled and cut into chunks
• pinch of salt
• water

How to:

1. In a medium sized pot, wash the rice grains and fill up half the pot with water. Bring to the boil.
2. When the rice in the water is boiling, add the sweet potato chunks and a pinch of salt
3. Boil until the sweet potato is tender when pierced with a fork.
4. If you prefer your rice porridge (congee) soft, keep boiling and stiring to break up the rice grains.
5. If you prefer your porridge grainy you can turn off the fire once the potato is cooked.

That’s all there is to it. The sweet potato doesn’t add much taste to the porridge but it is nice when eaten because it is by itself sweet. For the right nutrition balance, I had this of course with the right mix of proteins and vegetables, all cooked in an unmistakable homecooked no-frills style. The rest of my menu is coming up!

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Tagged as: Boil, Chinese, Easy Recipes, Rice