Savoury porridge… What the?! Well this idea is nothing new… think congee. It’s just my take on it and if I do say so myself (and I’m the one who ate it so I’m in the best position to call it) it was really delicious. Despite my boyfriend telling me not to ‘mess with porridge’, I will be making this very often, because sometime when you mess with stuff magic happens. It’s also full of nutrients: fibre and protein from the oats, protein and healthy fats from the egg, calcium from the tahini, and the vitamins and minerals provided by the coriander  and chilli (and whatever other veges you top with). The tahini also lends a delicious rich creaminess to the porridge. Yum.

It’s safe to say I’m a little porridge crazy at the moment. It might have a little something to do with the cold weather. It’s become my go to breakfast, with the occasional sub in of waffles or avocado toast just to mix it up. But I’m not a person who deals well with monotony or in anyway habitual in my behaviour. In fact, I get sick of things very easily and have never been the type who has a regular thing they eat for lunch, breakfast on Tuesday nights or does every morning. This means that I cannot eat the same thing for breakfast for more than a couple of days without going off it. I do not want to go off my beloved porridge so I’m mixing it up. Topping it with grilled bananas, lemon curd or sticky glazed oranges and now going down the savoury path and man was this good.

You can mix up the toppings any way you want (I just used what I had on hand) and the things I infused it with are optional but just add flavour. Also the type of stock or bone broth is totally up to you – just use what you have on hand. If you don’t have any stock just use water and maybe add a little soy sauce to it too.

Ingredients

1/3 cup rolled oats

1 1/4 cups stock (cold) or bone broth or water

1 tsp tahini

1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar (any white vinegar will work)

1/4 tsp fish sauce (optional)

1 clove

1 coriander root (well cleaned and bashed with the side of knife)

1 spring onion

2-3 Tbs coriander leaves

1 lime cheek

1/4 of a chilli finely sliced

1/4 of a carrot spiralized or grated

2 Tbs cucumber chopped into 1-2cm chunks

1/4 tsp black sesame seeds (optional)

1 egg (+ 1/4 tsp each of vinegar and salt if poaching)

1/4 tsp soy sauce

Chilli sauce (optional)

Directions

Place oats, stock, clove, vinegar, fish sauce, tahini, the coriander root and the white part (stringy roots removed) of a spring onion in a pot and bring to a gentle simmer. Stir often and keep simmering for approx. 10 minutes or until a thick consistency with some oat texture left has been reached.

Either fry, boil or poach your egg. When poaching I do the following: bring a small spot of water to the boil with the salt and vinegar. Once boiling swirl the water and crack an egg into the centre. Using a slotted spoon gently move the whites towards the yolk. Simmer gently for a couple of minutes or until whites have just set. Remove with a slotted spoon when ready to serve or if your porridge is still a while off just remove with the slotted spoon and place on paper towel

Meanwhile, finely slice the rest of the spring onion and put aside with the rest of the toppings.

When your porridge is ready remove the coriander root, cloves, and white part of the spring onion and discard. Then you can serve in the pot or pour into a bowl. Top with the poached egg, coriander, spring onion, chilli, carrot and cucumber. dot the soy sauce and chilli sauce over top, sprinkle with sesame seeds and when ready to eat squeeze the lime cheek over and dig in!

HH. x