Why gruel is cool

Ingredients for Cantonese pork porridge.

Ingredients:

500g soup bones

100g pork fillet, sliced

100g pig liver, sliced

300g minced pork

150g Sichuan vegetables (zha cai) (about 1 whole vegetable, sliced)

1 bunch coriander leaves, chopped

1 teaspoon ginger juice

1 tbsp Chinese wine

1 cup long grain rice, rinsed

Sesame oil

Corn flour

Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Cut pork fillet into thin slices. Marinate with a pinch of corn flour, salt, pepper and sesame oil. This process is called velveting and tenderizes the meat.

2. Wash liver and pat dry, cut into thin slices. Marinate with ginger juice, corn flour, salt, pepper and sesame oil.

3. Chop up the Sichuan vegetable (zha cai), and mix into the minced pork, adding corn flour, salt, pepper and sesame oil. Stir the mixture vigorously in one direction until it comes together. Use a teaspoon to help shape into little meatballs and set aside.

4. Keep meat, liver and meatballs covered and chilled while the porridge is boiling.

5. In a large pot, bring 3 liters of water to a rolling boil. Add the pork bones and simmer 30 minutes. Skim off surface scum.

6. Remove bones from stock and add one cup of washed rice. Let the porridge simmer slowly for at least two hours. It's ready when the rice grains have fully "flowered" and the porridge is smooth and velvety.

7. Bring the porridge back to a boil, add meat slices and the meatballs.

8. Add liver slices last. Remove from heat and serve at once. Garnish with sliced dough fritters (you tiao) and fried chopped garlic, or maybe spring onions and coriander leaves.

Foodnotes: The secret to good porridge, Cantonese-style, is to make sure the rice is cooked thoroughly. It has to break down completely so there are no whole grains left. To help it cook faster, here is a tip from my mother: Add a tablespoon of oil to the washed rice and gently rub the grains with your hands until the oil is completely absorbed. I have no idea why, but this works for me every time and the result is always a very smooth congee. I am pretty sure the likes of Harold McGee would be able to explain the science behind it, but in the meantime, try it.