Seafood Congee

Guest Post

Hi, I am  'Daddy' , Elin's other half and also known as the ' wild boar' and head of the piggy clan . I am honored to be given this opportunity to write this post on her well guarded space here , though not often invited :p 

It’s been a long time since I cooked something from the sea and today I decided to surprise my wife with something homecooked, delicious and all the sea food she loves all in one pot.. I decided to cook the family favourite which is the Seafood Rice Congee or simply Seafood Porridge as is commonly known in our town. So I decided to make a quick trip to the supermarket to select some fresh sea offerings. Nothing beats the sweetness of  fresh sea produce especially crabs, prawns and brown sea octopus. For my signature dish today I chose two medium sized soft shell sea crabs, the locals here also calls it flower crabs as the shell has a distinctive flowery design . My preferred choice would have been the black hard shelled crabs but since these were not available I decided on the next best alternative.

Next on my shopping list is shrimps as my American friends calls them though we refer to it as prawns. I chose some medium sized ones about 200 grams. I looked  around for a small brown octopus about 100grams size. I got what I wanted as regards the seafood and now for some other ingredients. I needed some fresh green spring onion leaves a small bundle would do and some garlic cloves.

Preparation skills is rated about medium as care is needed to cook a correct texture for the congee. I measured one and a half cups of rice and about 8 rice bowls of water , add about 8 pips of garlic and 2 teaspoons of sesame seed oil and a teaspoon of salt This was put to a rolling boil and later brought to a very slow simmer. You need to constantly stir the congee to ensure it reaches the correct texture so stir a bit every 15 minutes. Do this for an hour and you are almost done. When the texture is just about correct you add in the soft shell crabs followed by the prawns and the slices of brown octopus. Cover the pot and simmer for 15 minutes on low heat and add 3 teaspoons of Kikkoman sauce and you are ready to serve. Garnish each serving with some chopped spring onion leaves and some pepper or Chinese wine to taste. I have now shared with you how to make a fairly easy and tasty seafood congee especially suitable for breakfast on a weekends. I enjoyed my share of the congee with a glass of Chivas Regal as I am a little allergic to seafood and the whisky is a good antidote and works.

Hope you all like this seafood congee and I hope I will be invited more often!

Thanks to  my other half for allowing me to share my culinary skills here * wink