5-Minute Cantonese Porridge (Congee)

Forget cooking Cantonese porridge the traditional way. That takes way too long.

On the stove, simmering raw rice in lots of water or stock till it breaks down and forms a smooth, thick gruel takes 2-3 hours.

In a slow cooker, the process is an overnight job.

Some people mix the rice, after it's washed, with a bit of mashed century egg. The alkali in the egg is supposed to make the rice break down faster. Does it? Nah! This method still takes a few hours.

Cutting the cooking time from hours to a mere 5 minutes is quite easy.

In the time you take to read this post and watch my video, you could have made some Cantonese porridge. How?

By using cooked instead of raw rice.

And forget about century eggs. Use a blender instead.

Century egg vs blender is rather like pigeon vs WhatsApp. No one sends messages by bird any more. So why would anyone use alkalized eggs instead of a blender?

I blend cooked rice with boiling water, and then I cook it on the stove. When the mixture comes to a full boil, the job is more or less done. The total cooking time needed is about 5 minutes.

Why do I use boiling water? Because it shortens the cooking time.

What's the texture of my 5-minute porridge like? It's as silky smooth as the one that takes hours.

What about the taste? That depends on what I put in the porridge. Good stock gives the porridge great flavour. Unfortunately, it doesn't fall out of the sky.

When I don't have homemade stock, I use the seasoning powder that comes with instant noodles. If that's not available, I use Knorr chicken powder plus a good bit of sugar. To make up for the lack of homemade stock, I put lots of meat and century egg in the porridge.

Plain Cantonese porridge is quite nice too. What do I eat with it? Anything that needs minimal or no cooking, like canned braised peanuts, salted eggs, kimchi, ham, etc.

Just so we're clear, 5 minutes is the cooking time for plain porridge. It does not include prepping time for meat, etc; or the time for boiling water; or the "breathing time" for century eggs.

1 rice cup of raw rice makes enough cooked rice for 3 bowls of porridge. Cooked rice may be used hot. Or it may be chilled or frozen till needed.

If porridge is your kind of thing, you have to try my recipe. And then go make porridge for your loved ones first thing in the morning. Of course, don't tell them it takes only 5 minutes. Let them think you wake up at the crack of dawn to cook their breakfast. They will be deeply touched.

There's a Chinese edition for my Cantonese porridge video. Click here if that's what you prefer. The usual English version is here:

5-MINUTE CANTONESE PORRIDGE (五分钟港式广东粥) (Recipe for 1 bowl) 120 g cooked long-grain Jasmine rice (270 ml, fluffed) rice may be hot, cold or frozen 360 g boiling water (360 ml) ½ tsp sugar 1¼ tsp chicken powder 40 g pork shoulder butt slice thinly across the grain, mix with ½ tsp light soya sauce and pinch cornflour 40 g chicken breast steam till just cooked, leave till cool, shred ½ century egg, peeled and rinsed dice, set aside uncovered for at least 15 min 1 tbsp diced spring onions ½ tsp white sesame oil dash ground white pepper 1) Blend cooked rice with boiling water till just barely visible. Add sugar and chicken powder. Stir till chicken powder dissolves. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring to prevent sticking, till porridge boils. 2) Continue cooking till porridge has consistency and smoothness you like. Add pork. Reduce heat to low. Cook and stir till porridge bubbles again. Add chicken and century egg. Stir through, adding more boiling water if porridge is too thick. Turn off heat. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. 3) Transfer porridge into bowl. Sprinkle with spring onion, white sesame oil and ground white pepper. Serve immediately.

Marble Butter Sponge Cake (Tang Mian Method)

Tàng, 烫: scald.

Miàn, 面: flour.

Tang mian is roux, made by cooking flour in bubbling hot butter.

Tang mian cake has the fluffiness of chiffon cake and the butteriness of butter cake. It has the best of two cake worlds but that's not all. It is smooth, smoother than chiffon or butter cake could ever be.

Some people call tang mian "cooked dough" instead of "roux". And the cake is sometimes called "黄金蛋糕" or "golden sponge cake". Hey, a rose by any other name . . . .

Mixing bubbling hot butter with flour intensifies the butter aroma significantly. If butter were just melted and added to the batter, or it's just beaten till fluffy, the cake would taste less buttery. Even beurre noisette isn't as good.

Cooking flour in hot butter makes the cake smooth. Why? Because when flour is coated with fat, it doesn't form gluten when it's mixed with non-fat liquids. No gluten is good news for cakes because gluten has a rough texture. In fact, pure gluten looks quite like sea sponge.

Once the roux is made, it's transferred into a bowl and mixed with cold milk. The milk is absorbed by the starch in the flour, creating a thick paste that's very hot. Unlike gluten which is rough, thickened starch has a smooth texture. That's why tang mian cake is smoother than other types of cake (when it's done right).

After the edge of the heat cools down, a small amount of egg white is added to the thick paste. When this is done is critical to the success of the cake. Why? Because the timing affects the consistency of the starch. If the starch is too thick/thin, the cake won't rise well. If the starch is just right, the cake will be very smooth. You know how good wine feels smooth in the mouth? Hey, cake can be smooth too!

After combining the roux with egg white, along with vanilla extract and salt, I add egg yolks. These are added one at a time so that they are mixed but not emulsified with the starch. The yolk batter mustn't stick to the whisk. Otherwise, it's too thick and the cake is doomed.

The bulk of the egg whites in the recipe are whisked, separately with sugar and cream of tartar, till firm peak stage.

If the batter is bubbly after whisked egg whites are added to the yolk mixture, it's too thin. Thin batter allows air bubbles to escape easily, so the cake won't rise well. It also allows air bubbles to expand easily when heated, so the cake will be pockmarked.

The batter is poured into the cake pan, slowly and from about 30 cm high. This releases big air bubbles in the batter, so the crumb will be fine and smooth.

If the batter falls in clumps when it's poured, it's too thick. Big air bubbles remain trapped in the batter, turning into unsightly holes in the cake when the baking is done. If the batter is too thick to rise well, the cake will be short and dense.

What makes the batter too thick? The roux is too hot when egg white is added, or the meringue is overwhisked. And vice versa would make the batter too thin.

After baking, the cake must be inverted whilst it's cooling down. If it's underbaked, it'll fall out of the pan and you can wave goodbye to its fluffiness. If the cake is overbaked, it'll be too dry. When the cake is baked just right, it's delightfully moist and fluffy . . . . Oh hang on . . . I think there's someone at the door.

Knock, knock! Who's there? Tang mian! Tang mian who? Timing is everything!

Want to get the timing right so that your cake is fluffy, moist, smooth and buttery? Here's how:

MARBLE BUTTER SPONGE CAKE (TANG MIAN METHOD) (Recipe for one 18 cm cake) 60 g unsalted butter 45 g cake flour 30 g full-fat milk, cold 20 g egg white 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/16 tsp salt 45 g egg yolks 105 g egg whites 1/16 tsp cream of tartar 50 g castor sugar 1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Measure and prep ingredients as detailed above. Line bottom of 18 x 6 cm round cake pan with 2 layers of parchment paper. 2. Cook butter over medium-low heat, stirring with whisk, till just bubbling thoroughly. Turn off heat. (If your stove is electric, remove pan from stove.) 3. Add cake flour to butter. Stir till smooth. Transfer into mixing bowl with scraper. Add milk. Mix vigorously with whisk till just combined. 4. Feel sides of bowl, which should be very hot. Wait till edge of heat eases, about 30 seconds. Add vanilla extract, salt and 20 g egg white. Whisk till combined. Add egg yolks in 3 batches. Whisk till combined after each addition. 5. Whisk 105 g egg whites on medium-low speed till frothy. Add cream of tartar. Whisk till thick foam forms. Gradually add castor sugar, still whisking. Continue to whisk till soft peak stage. Reduce speed to low. Whisk till firm peak stage (i.e. peak is hooked). 6. Yolk mixture is now slightly bubbly. Stir with whisk to remove bubbles. Add egg whites in 3 batches. Mix with whisk till almost even after each addition. Scrape down and fold with spatula till just even, banging mixing bowl against worktop 2-3 times. 7. Transfer 20 g batter into small bowl. Add 1 tsp cocoa powder. Mix thoroughly. 8. Pour remaining batter into cake pan in 3 batches, slowly and from 30 cm high. After each batch, dot with cocoa batter and drag sharp end of skewer through dots. Jiggle batter till level, tapping pan against worktop 3-4 times. 9. Bake cake in bottom of oven till batter doesn't jiggle when shaken, 22-23 minutes. Move pan to lower-middle shelf. Increase temperature to 180°C. Bake till middle of cake doesn't make squishing sound when pressed, about 10-12 minutes. 10. Remove cake from oven. Leave on wire rack, inverted, till cool. Knock sides of pan till cake is loosened. Invert and remove pan. Invert cake right way up. Cut and serve.