Shrimps Chicken Multigrain Congee Porridge

A few days away from daylight savings when we turn our clock back an hour. The days are getting shorter and temperatures are down to sweater weather.

A warm wholesome bowl of multigrain congee (this Rice Cooker /Multicooker will be useful) is a welcoming meal as we embrace autumn and winter. Call this Surf and Turf as shrimps (prawns) and ground  meat (pork, chicken) are added to the otherwise plain bowl of congee made from brown rice, millet, quinoa.

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Pan-Fried Leftover Gimbap with Egg

Nothing (or almost nothing) comes to waste when it comes to frugal-living cooking, even for that tricky leftover cooked fish. For example, leftover snapper fillets from last night dinner was transformed to egg frittata upgraded with veggies and rolled oats. Egg frittatas because our family loves egg frittatas e.g. Onion Egg Frittata, Chive Egg Frittata, Gouda Cheese Egg Frittata and Frozen Veggies Egg Frittata.

Today's leftover did not end up as any kind of egg frittata. But egg still made magic when it comes to leftover Gimbap transformation. 


You can also make homemade healthy sushi, then pan-fry them with egg, this same way.

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Lettuce and Sausage Egg Fried Rice

Made similar Sausage and Peas Fried Rice (without peas this time) and freshen the fried rice with lots of shredded lettuce.

Similarly, this Salmon and Egg Pesto Fried Rice or Bell Peppers, Peas and Garlic Fried Rice can also enjoy some shredded lettuce in it. Our family never say "No" when more vegetables can be suitably included in any dish. 

Lettuce not only complements fried rice with refreshing moisture and tender vegetable crisp, it also balances the saltiness of sausage in the fried rice.



If you enjoy vegetables in fried rice, you can also try Vegetables and Egg Fried Rice made with broccoli stems and Brussel sprouts leaves (and add some shredded lettuce if you have them in the fridge)

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Chicken Veggies Rice Soup

A warm and comforting soupy grain bowl is one of those grain bowls or protein bowls sought after during cool weather season, which is right now.

If Leftover Chicken Breast Salad can be prepared in 20 minutes, why not this Chicken Veggies Rice Soup?

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One-Pot Shrimp Rice Multigrains

This quick-cook blend of seven grains (farro, barley, wheat berries, buckwheat, red rice, black rice, oats) cooks in about 10 minutes. Shrimps, typically, take approximately the same time to cook, why not put shrimps (protein) and multigrain rice (carbs) together as one-pot/rice-cooker Shrimps Rice/Multi-grains? Isn't it more wonderful when the rice is infused with savory shrimp flavors while the shrimps cooks in (and with) the rice. 

Other one-pot possibilities include One-Pot Tomato Rice, One-Pot Turmeric-Spiced Rice, Cabbage Rice. 

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Salmon, Egg Pesto Fried Rice

In our family, recipes are typically for referencing, seldom followed to a T.  For example, when cooking a small portion of fried rice (serving 2), vs a batch of fried rice (serving 4 or more), the how-to can be tweaked. The reason to adapt, sometimes just because we are limited by size/ type of pan, wok, or pot. You will understand what this means if you cook regularly.


For example, there are several ways how egg can be incorporated into the fried rice when cooking egg fried rice.  Sometimes, raw egg is mixed with cold rice (leftover rice that has been chilled in fridge or stored in freezer) to coat the rice grain prior to frying; or other times, eggs can be cooked (scrambled) first, removed and set aside, rice added to same pan and fried, then scrambled eggs added back to the pan, fried with rice. Occasionally, especially when cooking a small portion of fried rice, the egg is added directly to the rice in the pan - create an "empty" center in the rice so the egg hits the surface of the pan/pot to be cooked partially, then mixed/fried together with rice. Ahhhh, so many ways.

The fried rice outcome may be different taste-wise but still delicious in its own way.

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Carrots, Celery, Cod Fish Porridge/ Congee

This 3C Rice Porridge/Congee cannot be bought with Cash or Credit Card. It is homecooked and worth many carats...or rather, carrots.

A fuss-free 3C - Carrots, Celery, Cod Fish Porridge/Congee recipe that you can easily make at home, this porridge/congee stands alone as one-dish meal consisting of vegetables (carrots, celery), proteins (fish) and carbs (rice/ grains).


The carrots add subtle sweetness and celery, a tender crunch to the savory cod fish porridge/congee. 

Other rice porridge/ congee recipes include:

Quinoa Millet Multi-Grain Porridge/Congee

Shirasu White Bait Millet Porridge/Congee

Kabocha Squash Millet Porridge/Congee

Salmon, Celery, Mountain Yam Porridge/Congee

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Cauliflower "Egg Fried Rice"

Finally, I made "egg-fried rice - 蛋炒饭, 黄金炒饭"，the infamous fried rice in which each "grain" of rice is evenly coated with egg. However, this "fried rice" is interestingly low-carb, low-calorie, even low or no cholesterol. How can that be?


It's cauliflower "rice" - the "rice" that is ubiquitous in health grocery stores. If there is another way to enjoy cauliflower - why not?

I have made cauliflower steaks before, and always love some good roasted whole cauliflower. One of my favorite Indian dishes is Aloo Gobi

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Salmon, Celery, Mountain Yam Congee Rice Porridge

It was a dark rainy day and that called for a bowl of warm congee/ rice porridge, soupy comfort yet able to fill us up.


This bowl of congee/ rice porridge is flavorful with salmon, complemented by soft-tender mountain yam and crisp-tender celery. It is not just a mass of sticky soft gruel but one which offers textures and layered flavors. The mixture and blend of grains also helps in that perfect congee consistency.

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Shirasu Whitebait Millet Porridge/ Congee

One of the taboos during Chinese New Year is not to eat porridge /congee on the first day of Chinese New Year because porridge (seen as food for the poor) brings poverty. It is now way past the fifth day of Chinese New Year, so no more food taboos! Besides, it is unseasonably cold here in California almost the middle of February, so a bowl of piping hot porridge instantly delivers warmth and comfort in the chilly nights of winter.

As natural as how the body works, when we grow older, we should revert back to eating like a growing baby? Exaggeration, you might say. The point is, consuming easily digestible food like this Shirasu Millet Porridge, especially during the night does not overload our digestive system and works better for the body.


A one-pot millet porridge/ congee, cooked with high-in-calcium shirasu (sardine whitebait), zinc-rich organic ground chicken, iron-packed watercress and beta-carotene-loaded carrots, is nutritious, wholesome yet light and comforting. For vegetarian, omit the chicken and fish in this recipe, and try this Kabocha Squash Millet Congee.

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Kabocha Squash Pumpkin Mushroom Rice

With its bright orange flesh, kabocha squash is an excellent source of beta-carotene that can be converted to vitamin A in the body. Vitamin A is important for healthy white blood cells, good immunity and for vibrant, healthy eyes, skin and hair. To boost fiber content, you can cook them with their edible green skins. I bought a whole kabocha squash (Japanese pumpkin) with a plan to cook Pumpkin Rice 南瓜饭.

This Pumpkin Rice a pumped-up version of this Garlic Pumpkin Rice and fits a one-pot one-dish meal perfectly.

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One-Pot Tomato Rice 电锅番茄饭

By this time, most of you in the social media food-groups must have come across the Internet one-pot tomato-rice sensation. Beside one-pot pasta, this one-pot (or one-pan) rice is also one-darn-good cooking idea for homecooks like us who need to think of "it's-gotta-be-different, better-be-new and hopefully-interesting" dishes to cook everyday. Truth is, we (rather, I) don't cook different and new dishes everyday.


However, once in a while, I do try to inspire myself to cook something different. I was even more inspired to put this tomato-rice as part of my regular cooking ritual/meal plan as it is a one-pot-everything dish. To me, this is similar to cooking one-pot biryani rice, just that this tomato-rice does not include the use of Indian-spices and leans towards home-style cooking. I would call it healthy "fried" rice.

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Korean Spicy Broccoli 韩式辣酱拌西兰花

Ever since I have successfully made my own Korean spice-dressing from gochujang, apple cider vinegar and sesame oil, I have been enjoying the ease of making a galore of banchan such as gochujang Bok Choy, and chilled spiced-tofu.

Spiced broccoli florets

Today, this Korean-spiced broccoli will be a great accompaniment to kimchi fried rice made with broccoli stems, eggs, edamame and corn kernels. It is broccoli two-way: the florets in banchan, and stems in fried rice.

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Rice Cakes in Vegetables Curry, Lontong

Chicken rice, fried carrot cake, fried Hokkien Mee, Laksa, Satay - all the delicious and famous street food of Singapore; but what happened to Lontong? Unlike the other popular street food, Lontong is hardly raved about.


Lontong,in Malaysia and Singapore, usually refers to a breakfast dish of ketupat (rice cakes) in a coconut-based vegetable-curry with chopped vegetables such as cabbage, long beans and carrots; plus other ingredients such as fried tofu and hard-boiled eggs. To me, it is quite similar to Gado-Gado with the type of vegetables used; but Gado-Gado is a dry salad doused with peanut-sauce dressing while Lontong is liquid-based curry.

Traditionally, ketupat is made from white rice wrapped in a woven palm leaf pouch which is then boiled and as the rice cooks, the grains expand to fill the pouch and the rice becomes compressed. However, shelf-ready rice-filled plastic pouches are now available which can be boiled until the rice becomes cooked and subsequently fill up the pouch and be compressed as well.



Rice, already boiled to cook and fill up the pouch and compressed - call it ketupat

Thank goodness for such a product, plus with the help of Sayur Lodeh Premix (Prima Brand), I am able to make Lontong quite easily at home. The flavors from the premixed paste is really quite tasty and as far as I can remember, much better than the Lontong I tasted so many years ago from the Malay hawker food stalls back in Singapore. In addition, the gravy derived from the pre-packaged paste is of the correct consistency compared to those sold by street vendors nowadays, in which the Lontong gravy can be quite thin and watery.


Don't you think with rice (carbs), tofu and egg (protein) and the vegetables all in one dish, Lontong can be quite a balanced one-dish meal? Forget the coconut milk for a second!

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Kimchi Fried Rice with Cheese 起司泡菜炒饭

It has been such a long time since I made kimchi "fried" rice. That time, it was more alike kimchi bibimbap in the rice cooker. However with some "precious" (precious because we hardly have any leftover rice at home) rice leftover from the day before, it is now time to make real fried rice, as in...really frying the rice. A serving of leftover rice is good for one, so it better be easy and quick cooking.

The probiotic benefit of kimchi is always a bonus. This kimchi rice recipe is to experiment the robust flavors of kimchi in many possibilities and interesting dimensions.

Again, I had some vegetable scraps of broccoli stems; and added mini sweet bell peppers and egg to the rice. This is a great way to clean out the fridge and use up ingredients that are on their last leg!



Note: I also wanted to test melting cheese atop kimchi fried rice (seen it being done before but forgotten where). However, I did not want to turn on another equipment (the oven) just to melt the cheese, so I finish it off in the same pot that has cooked the fried rice. When the fried rice is done, add sliced cheese over the rice, cover the pot with the heat on the stove still on - keep at low-medium. After a few minutes, the cheese will just melt into the rice.


Note1: In order to reduce the mixing time in the pot yet enable the kimchi flavors to fully get into the rice, the kimchi was "premixed" with the rice first, before frying the rice.

Note2: When it comes to fermented food such as miso or even kimchi, I try to minimize high-heat (e.g. boiling) or long-duration (on medium-heat) cooking, so that the good-for-you bacteria does not get destroyed in the cooking process.

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Homemade Chicken Rice 鸡饭

The preparation of chicken (Poached Chicken recipe) and the rice is separated into two posts, so that Chicken Rice does not to sound too intimidating when cooked at home. When making chicken rice, it is recommended to cook the chicken before cooking the rice. Most importantly, do not forget the chili sauce (Homemade Chili Sauce recipe).


Chicken rice or shall I say home-style chicken rice is actually not unhealthy; in fact, it can be quite a balanced nutritious meal considered that carbs, proteins and vegetables are all taken care of in this dish. Though I use the word "intimidating", chicken rice is actually not difficult to cook at home.

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Rice Stuffed Hatch Chili Pepper

Hatch is to chili pepper, just as Champagne is to sparkling wine. Now, this is how I remember what Hatch Chile is all about.


As the pickled Hatch chili was "tested" mild- or even non-spicy, the rest of the hatch peppers did not share the same fate. They were stuffed with some leftover fried rice (e.g. Turmeric Spiced Rice) and roasted instead.

Before roasting

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Vegetarian Braised "Meat" Mushroom-Tofu Sauce/Rou-Zhao 素肉燥

If you do not know, I am a huge fan of The Big Bang Theory series. I never watched any American drama while growing up. Not a single one. However, we chanced upon The Big Bang Theory some years ago in the US when the local channel kept showing repeats, and then we were kinda (unknowingly) addicted and knowingly, we watched all eight seasons, repeat telecasts and repeat telecasts.


This is going to sound even more exaggerating.

No matter how many times we have watched, we just went back to ...MORE..REPEATS. Well, of course, not every single episode is hilarious; but in general, most are. Some airlines even have an entire collection of one season - all (about 12) episodes in their on-board entertainment system, and again, we watched the repeats on the plane, not even interested in any of the new-release movie.

The Mr. and myself do not know why we could relate so well with The Big Bang Theory, but we logically attributed the cause to: both of us having engineering/technical background, so maybe we are able to relate to the jokes of geeks and nerds. Or perhaps both are us are THE geeks or nerds?! I don't know.


If you also follow this TV series (Season 8 is done, awaiting Season 9), you should know that Sheldon has a theme for every day/night e.g. Saturday night is laundry night, Thursday night is pizza night and occasionally, when there is no theme, they call it Anything-Can-Happen night, which brings the point to this post.

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Tofu Vegetables Rice Paper Rolls 素米卷

If you work (or cook) in the kitchen very often, you will find that you get new ideas for your next dish just when you are preparing the current dish. Do you?


These rice rolls were "conceptualized" when I made tofu bibimbap. I was thinking - most of these ingredients can actually fit into a rice wrapper and be made into a rice roll. Since there were some leftover bibimbap ingredients namely pan-fried tofu, red bell pepper, radish, baby spinach - why not have another creation for appetizers? Then came these Tofu-Pepper-Radish Rice Paper Rolls.

And no, I did not use gochujang as the sauce-dipper for these rolls lest it became a deconstructed bibimbap with "rice" wrapping the ingredients. You can jolly well make that happen if you wanted to. However, all I wanted was refreshing rice rolls with sweet-tangy-spicy sauce dip, so I made Honey-Vinegar-Sambal Sauce Dip to go with the rice rolls.

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Easy Bibimbap, Mixed Vegetables Rice 韩式拌饭

Do you agree that Bibimbap is considered easy to prepare?

I cater to my own convenience(s) when I cook, so this might not be very authentic Korean bibimbap. However if you are looking for a fuss-free, quick and easy way to NUTRITIOUSLY and HEALTHILY satisfy lunch or dinner, then such a home-style bibimbap fits the bill.

Clockwise from left: Organic bell pepper, fried egg, cucumber, sauteed onions, Nori seaweed, garlic spinach

The recipe for Easy Healthy Bibimbap first appeared here. The ingredients on top of the rice can be switched up, played down but one ingredient that remains true will remain true - Korean hot pepper paste Gochujang.

This is also a good opportunity to take on the creative role and give it your own spin. Whichever vegetables (or proteins), try to include as many different colors as you can, typically five colors. Why five? Read more here.

GREEN (baby spinach, cucumbers, or any salad greens, even kale or Bok Choy); RED (bell pepper), YELLOW (egg); BLACK (seaweed, mushrooms); WHITE (onions, tofu, radish). Note: typically soy bean sprouts or bean sprouts represent "White" but I did not have them available.

It might be hard to believe but strangely this combination translates to a balance and harmony of flavors.

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