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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Container Gardening - Chinese Watercress 种植西洋菜

With spider mites "visiting" every summer and a planter-bed in a part-shade location, we did not have much good success in growing leafy vegetables such as kale and Swiss chard. Most importantly, how much we grew could not satisfy our rate of consumption.

Top: Aug 2014; Bottom; Feb 2015, in the City-Picker

Just last fall/autumn, we found this shade-tolerant vegetable that has been flourishing beyond our expectations. August last year, we planted Chinese watercress by rooting some store-bought Chinese watercress in the City-Picker container and it was a success. We have already had at least five harvest from last August batch!

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Container Gardening - Herbs, Chili, Watercress

At almost the same time August last year, there was a variety of tomato plants and vegetables e.g. kale and Swiss chard growing in our backyard. After a year, some minor changes have taken place and this is the current garden update.

Due to the lack of full sun for long duration especially at the raised bed location, we have cut down on the growing of leafy green vegetables this year, and shifted our growing efforts to container gardening: fruits such as blueberries and pomegranates, vegetable/fruits e.g. watercress, different types of chili, and herbs such as basil, rosemary and thyme.

Herbs - basil, rosemary, thyme

These basil, rosemary, thyme are not grown from seeds, but bought as potted herbs from the nursery. They have survived and flourished. Herbs such as basil and rosemary have also been propagated successfully via stem cuttings.

For all of our chili plants, we have caged them as what you would do to a tomato plant, and have netted around the cage to prevent birds from eating the chili. The use of a reflective pinwheel also works to minimize pests and to prevent birds from eating the chili.

Thai Dragon Chili - bought as a plant from the nursery without fruits. It is now fruiting nicely and some chili have turned red with time.

Dragon Chili

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Chinese Watercress Gojiberry Soup 西洋菜枸杞子鸡汤

For some reason (probably habitual - if you start to eat something less often, you tend to eat them less often), I have used less pork in my cooking and usually substitute pork with chicken when meat is called for. Of course, pork and chicken don't taste the same. A lot of Chinese soups, when cooked with pork, gets more "sweetness accentuated" compared to chicken.


Rather, let me term it, differently delicious.

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Upland Cress and Watercress

Remember the post about "watercress" for salads or even garnish? Recently, I came close encounter with Upland Cress (that the store labels "Watercress"). It looks like the "young" offspring of the more fibrous watercress  西洋菜 widely used in Chinese cooking as soups quite typically. And truth be told to me, today I found that Chinese Watercress (Nasturtium_officinale) and this Upland Cress (Barbarea verna) are quite different. And can someone tell me if Upland Cress is seasonal?

Upland cress

Anyway, I bought this Upland Cress (above) with the intention of making salads. Elegant, tiny leaves, slender and thin stalks!

Appearance-wise, Upland Cress is a tad different from the Chinese watercress (left).

Soup recipes are common for Chinese watercress and the furthest I have gone is in a stir-fry.

Taste-wise, both have a slightly sharp peppery kick.

Nutrition-wise, watercress seems to get rave spotlight for iron, calcium, folic acid, Vitamins A and C. Watercress is also a source of antioxidants and photochemical.

How do you use Watercress or Upland Cress in your cooking?


I am sharing Upland Cress and Watercress with Weekend Herb Blogging #294 hosted by Anh of A Food Lover's Journey.






Tag: upland cress, watercress

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Stir-Fry Watercress Pasta...summer pasta!

This is the first time I am using watercress for stir-fry. Yes, we are too familiar with making soup with watercress.

But as the "fatter" watercress stems tend to be fibrous, I decided to -Tip1: keep the stems for making the usual  watercress soup and Tip2: use the small tender leaves for a all-vegetables stir-fry with whole-wheat pasta (fusili). Tip3: Slice the bok choy, cabbage, carrots and mushrooms to the approximate size of the pasta (which in this case, fusili) to better the bite (chew) in each spoonful as you eat. This perfects the textures (and bite) of the final dish.

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Watercress Soup 西洋菜汤

That was the first and last time I had Daikon in my Watercress Soup. Not horribly wrong but I lost the distinct watercress taste that I enjoy. So in the same recipe, I omitted the daikon to make a clear tasting Watercress Soup - 西洋菜汤. While most Watercress Soups are boiled with pork/spare ribs or pork bones, I made my Watercress Soup with chicken bones.

Watercress Soup

Watercress is one of the most nutritious vegetables and has rich sources of vitamins and essential minerals. While Western cuisines usually call for Watercress of dainty amount in salads and garnish, Chinese cuisines use one (or two) reasonably bunch(es) in soups (clear soups, not puree). Whenever I see Watercress in a grocery store like WholeFoods, I go "That is a different Watercress" - but am I wrong? Weeks later, I kinda found the answer in The NY Times.

How wrong or right did the science of association go? They are all the same Watercress, right?

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Watercress and Daikon Soup of the Day, 西洋菜白萝卜汤

This soup was somehow created because I was eager to heal myself from a irritable "stubborn phlegm and breathless coughing" symptom. It must be a new virus going around (which I do not know if I caught it in California or Singapore) as I have forgotten the last time when I was sick for almost 1 month. Yes. That long. I visited the doctor 3 times, seeking cure. Only the first doctor subjected me to antibiotics cos I had a slight fever. After 1 week, I was still coughing bad at night and oh that horrible phlegm irritated me so much.

Daikon (white radish, 白萝卜 - Bai Luo Bo) is known to be good for soothing a bad throat, thinning mucus (clears phlegm) and nourish the "Qi" (energy) in the body.

As I understand, watercress is supposed to be a natural expectorant.


So, I added some daikon (white radish) to watercress and made this soup with chicken carcasses (bones). I was anxious for recovery.

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Watercress Soup - Soup of the Day

Mention Chinese watercress - 西洋菜 (pronounced Xi Yang Cai) and most Chinese will associate it with SOUP. This vegetable turns out almost like another superfood to me. According to the online Chinese encyclopedia, consuming watercress during the Fall season (the season when flu/cold is rampant in Northern Hemisphere), aids better breathing in the overall body system, as watercress is touted as a natural expectorant. No more nasal spray, no more Mucinex. And believe it or not, some sources even state that watercress contains MORE calcium than milk, MORE vitamin C than oranges and MORE iron than spinach. Too good to be true? I don't know. But eating MORE vegetables can't be anyway harmful...


Moreover, cooler temperatures mean warm soothing soup on the way, warming our body inside out, comforting us outside in. Watercress and watercress soup for WHB #206, hosted by Yasmeen, Health Nut. Come, join us.



Watercress Soup
Ingredients: 1 bunch watercress, rinsed; gojiberry; red dates; chicken balls (made from leftover fillings of wonton dumplings)

Directions: Make chicken balls out of ground chicken mixture and set aside on plate. Boil a pot of water and when water boils, add in watercress and red dates and allow to come to a boil. When boiling, lower the heat and allow to simmer (pot covered) till the watercress is cooked and softened. Stir occasionally. Add in gojiberry and chicken meatballs and continue to simmer till chicken meatballs are cooked. Dish out the chicken meatballs and set aside to prevent overcooking of the meatballs. Allow the watercress to simmer longer. Finally, ladle soup over the meatballs and serve.

Tag: watercress, soup, watercress soup