Rather bland congee with some ground pork and century egg. Added a yiu-tiao. And a dry bowl of cornflakes to snack on while typing this (need to go pick up some milk)

breakfast... two bowls of corn flakes and an orange

Breakfast: red potatoes fried in olive oil, 3 slices Canadian bacon, 2 jumbo eggs over easy.

Lunch: Campbells Chunky Sirloin Burger soup, biscuits.

This is traditionally the time of year we clean out the pantry and consume the hurricane provisions. It’s also 57 degrees - brrrrr.

morning after breakfast - I’d probably be feeling worse if I had any alcohol or canna last night.

blueberry bagel toasted with:
wise sons cream cheese
ks butter

coffee with oat milk
fridge water


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Do you make the congee? I’m not a huge fan and I prefer just the rice with toppings.

brr cold! I really prefer 60-70 max when possible.

In this case, no. My brother stopped by and got some from an asian supermarket. I don't have the patience to boil congee to the consistency of goo... If I make it, it's usually plain teochew/chiu chow style which takes about 10 minutes to do (these ain't instant grits) and have a variety of condiments to go with it (eg picked lettuce, fried gluten, chili bamboo, fermented tofu). Many people in SEA call it sick food...but I have it once in a while to help cleanse the body.

Roll with it and fast.

Pumpkin pie spiced (I also added bourbon vanilla extract) waffles with syrup.
They were delicious but I am going to buy a new waffle iron...mine is old and the waffles stuck in places. It was cheap & I have used it for years so time for a new one.

This is something that always tastes better in restaurants or just a street vendor. Perhaps, it's limited to my narrow experiences, but, if I recall, all the times I've had homemade congee have been underwhelming--there's like no taste when compared to restaurants.

Depends on the style, the ingredients (if any) and method. If you're talking about the canto version, try something like a 4:1 ration water to rice. Add salt... then it depends on what "liao" you're looking to put in. century egg is nice. The pork is usually hit or miss for me. Chunks of properly seasoned (and not overly cooked) is pretty good. Fish you have to do close to the finishing off or else it becomes really tough. Pork liver is the same.

Old school would also add finely julienned ginger and green onions/scallions. SEA would put in some semi-stale (sorry, but they are) yu-tiao... (I like it fresh but drained of oil). Raw egg is nice as well (put it in the bowl and then pour the congee on top).

Now if you're talking about the teochew/chiu chow style (basically boiled rice) that's a different story... that's homestyle for me...

Then we mustn't forget the other types like paofan...

The first two styles aren't difficult, just require practice and a bit of knowledge of food and it's properties... (eg, pork liver is nice when cooked properly, but if you over cook it without stopping the process, it becomes hard and not very nice).

my parent always made it after thanksgiving and major holidays when they had big bones for the stock. I just never could get into it. I do believe that it’s possible to cook well at home with some good ingredients. Let’s face it - we know that restaurant secrets are salt and sugar! All those fermented ingredients are salt while the chopped garlic, chopped ginger, and scallions are all pre-done and easy to chop at home…
I really am not a congee kid and I still would cook it if interested. Obviously the fried dough part is a treat and probably the toughest element to cook for this dish.

Seasonal Fruit Danish @ Lodge Bread.

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This is how I generally prefer it, but never tried the raw egg, and will have to make it a point to do so. I couldn't agree more that the yu-tiao is much better when fresh, and the stale ones, I just have to soak it into the congee until it becomes very soft. There's a restaurant here that makes it fresh daily and probably the best in the city--it's so good when fresh, that it's always a conundrum on whether I'd prefer to eat it as is or place them into my congee. I usually end up ordering extras and do both.

My preference is to dip it in (or chop it up and toss it in when I sit down). But the congee has to be piping hot. Not sure what part of the world you're in, but we have a few places here in the GTA which make yu-tiao hourly. I try to get it when they put it on the drying rack. We can get the factory made stuff but they pale in comparison.

Raw egg gives it a silkier taste (IMO) BUT you have to make sure the congee is hot enough to cook it. You don't want to get salmonella poisoning. My only beef is that if you're looking for the type where the rice grains have melted, you're looking at hours of cooking (low and slow). There are cheats you could use, but it's still time consuming and if you make it, you can't make it just for one or two.... it's not worth it.

Salad with grilled chicken
Slice of brick oven (?) pizza
Taco with chicken, taco with chorizo
Crackers with Cabot horseradish cheddar and brie

We may get ramen later.

-J.

My Oster was under $18 on Amazon and works great. Round, non-stick, mostly. An Amazon choice.

Dinner: b@stardized salad Niçoise.


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