Scallop, Mussel and Peanut Porridge

Having porridge for lunch is a common meal for my farmer grandparents during my growing up years. I had porridge for lunch practically everyday. It was not the fancy or luxurious porridge but plain porridge or sweet potato porridge served with fried salted vegetable, fried salted raddish (Chai Por), boiled salted duck egg or fried salted fish. Occasionally, I had ikan bilis (anchovies) fried with sugar to go with the porridge. I loved this fried ikan bilis. I still craved for this.

I hated the porridge during my growing up years but soon I love this acquired taste for the porridge. I still love to eat porridge for either lunch or dinner. Occasionally, I demanded my wife to cook Teochew porridge for dinner. She will cook four to five dishes to accompany the porridge. Teochew porridge is no longer a poor man’s food. It is being served in five-star hotels and specialty restaurants.

Today, I am sharing with you the one-pot porridge. This one-pot porridge also called the “Cantonese porridge” that goes with different types of ingredient. This most common one is known as the “mussel/peanut porridge”. But I have improvised the recipe by adding dried scallops.

The Recipe for Scallop/Mussel/Peanut porridge (for five persons)

Ingredients:

100 gm of Dried mussel (“tam choy” in Cantonese)
50 gm of dried scallop
50 gm of dried and shelled peanuts
50 gm of ginger cut into slides
one stalk of spring onion cut in fine pieces
50 gm of shredded gingers
one and half cup of rice, washed and drained
six cup of water.
Half a teaspoon of salt.
One teaspoon of white pepper powder.

Soak the dried scallop, dried mussel and peanut in a bowl of hot water for about an hour. Drain away the water and put the ingredients into the pot together with the sliced ginger, pepper powder, rice and water.

I used a pressure cooker. So, the cooking time is about twenty five minutes. For normal pot, the cooking time is about three hours.

After cooking, shake the pressure cooker and let it rest until the pressure knob is returned to normal pressure position. Release the pressure cooker cover lock and stir the porridge. IF the viscosity of the porridge is too thick, add more hot and boiled water to dilute to the desired viscosity.

Sprinkle some sesame oil, white pepper powder and add some shredded ginger and cut spring onion to suit your taste. And here you have this luxurious home cooked porridge for the whole family.

It is very easy to cook. Try this yourselves. If you have problem finding the dried mussel and dried scallop, go to the shops in the Pasar Road market areas in Kuala Lumpur. Alternatively, go to a shop opposite the Central Market (Kwang Yau Heng) that sell all kind of dried seafood.