Category: Eating In

Feed a cold and starve a fever, Asian style

When I’m sick, I whinge. A lot. Suffering through a stuffy nose, a sore throat and general listlessness means one of two dishes, that I can make easily in a rice cooker and very patient family and friends. After a few ‘poor baby’ commiserations, I do manage enough energy to prep a supply of easily reheatable meals to last through my germy days.

Growing up in Malaysia, we ate a lot of chinese food. Jook, or porridge is soft but not mushy and definitely warming.

Jook/Congee/Porridge

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Japanese sushi rice or any other glutinous short grain variety (yes it is gluten-free)
  • 2 inches of ginger, cut in to thin strips
  • 1/2 cup shitake mushrooms, rinsed and chopped up
  • 1 grated carrot
  • 2 scallions chopped fine
  • 1/4 cabbage shredded
  • 1 handful chopped coriander leaves (cilantro)
  • 1 stalk celery diced
  • 4 cups water
  • 1 tbsp gluten free soy sauce
  • 1 tsp ume vinegar

Method

  1. Rinse rice and put in rice cooker (one with a porridge setting.)
  2. Add water and 2/3 of the ginger, the celery, the shitake mushrooms and the cabbage and leave it to cook.
  3. When cooked, mix in the grated carrot, the coriander leaves, soy sauce, ume vinegar and scallions in to the portion you are going to eat. The rest can be frozen overnight for the next day. Other variations include adding a thinly sliced chicken breast to cook with the rice or finishing with an egg, if you like runny yolks.

My other sick day alternative goes back to my own cultural heritage and the advice of my GP, who insists curry and spice are the best cures for a cold.

Khitchari

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Basmati rice long grain
  • 1 cup lentils (i use yellow dahl but mung bean dahl is also common)
  • 1 teaspoon cumin powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1/2 cup chopped cauliflower
  • 1/2 cup of diced carrots and red capsicum
  • 1 tomato chopped roughly
  • 1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves (yes, I add these to lots of things)
  • Salt to taste

Method

  1. Rinse lentils and rice and put in rice cooker with 5 cups water. Add all vegetables, 1/2 the coriander leaves and spices and stir. Start the rice cooker.
  2. When cooked, serve with the left over coriander leaves and a spoonful of plain yoghurt. Any uneaten portions may be frozen and reheated.

Minimum effort, maximum benefit. Comfort food, my way.

Kiss kiss,

Bubbles

 

 

 

Chicken Kiev-esque

When my nieces stay over, I try to make dinner kid-friendly and interesting. This dish is pretty simple and takes next to no preparation time…always handy when you are playing hide and go seek right up to dinner time.

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts
2 cloves garlic
25g butter
1 egg
1 handful Parmesan cheese grated
1 floret broccoli
1 punnet brown mushrooms
1 bunch asparagus

For the chicken
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius
Slice a pocket in each chicken breast.
Blend garlic and butter until creamy and salt to taste.
Fill the pockets in the chicken breast liberally with the mixture
Lightly beat the egg and have the grated Parmesan on a plate.
Dip the stuffed chicken breast in the egg and roll in the Parmesan then place it on a grill rack in the oven for 16 minutes.

For the mushrooms, asparagus and broccoli

Slice and sautee in pan with a little butter and salt. For the broccoli, dust with Parmesan to finish. For the mushrooms, add a dash of Lea & Perrins sauce.

Plate and serve.

Kiss kiss,

Bubbles

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