Breakfast of Champions Asian Style: Kabocha Porridge with Sesame Oil Fried Eggs

I LOVE porridge, risotto, grits, anything in that comforting soupy realm is all good.  Growing up in a Taiwanese household, we didn't eat egg mcmuffins, waffles, or pancakes for breakfast.  We ate porridge.  It is so comforting to me to eat a warm bowl of porridge with some eggs or veggies on the side during the cold winter mornings.  Gives me the strength to face the day, well at least until lunch. ><

So this is my favorite winter time breakfast: a simple Kabocha Squash (Japanese winter squash) porridge with a side of pan fried eggs over medium.











There are two hidden ingredients that makes this meal so delish: sesame oil and white pepper.

Any self-respecting cook of Asian cuisine should have these two items in their pantry at all times.

Sesame oil has a very strong rich flavor that just resonnates "Asia" so be careful...a little goes a long way!

White pepper powder gives just enough heat and slight punch with almost a curry-like flavor as well.  It's warming and not as invasive or sharp as cracked black pepper.


TIP: get the white peppercorns instead of the powder.  Freshly cracked white peppercorns are so much more potent so you need a lot less than the packaged powder.








Quick note about the following recipes: all the ingredient measurements are just approximates to taste and preference.

Kabocha Porridge
1 cup of raw rice cooked in 3 cups of chicken stock (about 1 hour)
OR
1 cup of cooked (day old) rice cooked in 2 cups of chicken stock over medium low heat saucepan for about 10-15 minutes
* Cooking time is dependent on your preferred consistency of the porridge.  The longer you cook it, the more the rice breaks down in the porridge and the thicker it gets.

When the porridge is about 5 minutes to preferred consistency, cut  the Kabocha into 1 inch bite size pieces and drop into porridge to cook the remaining 5 minutes.
* To see if Kabocha is cooked through take a toothpick or chopstick and stick it through a piece of the squash.  If it goes through easily then it's done.

Pinch of salt and crack of white pepper to taste.

Fried Eggs in Sesame Oil
Add about a teaspoon of cooking oil and a half teaspoon of sesame oil to a nonstick pan over medium high heat.  When you see a little smoke coming off the pan and the oils move easily across the pan, crack 1 or 2 eggs into the pan.

Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and when you see a slight brown edge forming, flip the egg(s) over with a spatula.  Cook for another minute, turn off the heat, and remove eggs from the pan.  Sprinkle more salt to taste.

If you like egg yolks more runny then only cook the eggs for a 15-30 seconds after the flip.  The idea behind a good fried egg is to get that brown crisp edge.

Autumn Splurge – fresh crab meat omelet rice with white beech mushroom and iceberg cabbage

One of my favorite breakfast places of all time is Katy’s in Carmel-by-the-sea. I love their San Francisco omelet with super fresh Dungeness crab meat and avocado inside. Mmmm….. I’m a big time seafood eater and never shy away from seafood dishes any time of the day.

I scanned our fridge and found some leftover rice and iceberg lettuce and some leftover fresh crab meat from dinner last night. (I made a garlicy butter-pepper “wok roasted” crab but forgot to take picture before we killed it, next time!) To balance off that all ingredient is “leftover”, I opened a new pack of white beech mushroom and used 1/3 of it in this dish.

It has been gloomy and rainy in Venice. I’m conditioned to see bright sunny days in SoCal. After all, weather is the value proposition of Los Angeles (for me). So in a dark and wet morning like this a hearty and luxurious breakfast becomes a perfect fix!

One quick note here: crab is a very seasonal ingredient. Chinese people say “round tips for September; pointed tips for October.” The “tips” here means the shape of the tummy line of the crab. The more rounded ones are females, and the pointed refer to the male crabs. Female crabs best be tasted in September and male crab in October, both in lunar calendar. In American only the male Dungeness are harvested. When in season, the crab meat tastes firmer and sweeter. Even the fat in the shell taste more flavorful and less fishy. The crab meat I used here for this recipe is from the body (we ate all the legs!), and after I picked out the meat I mixed it with the fat in the shell to get a super rich crab flavor. When in season the crab fat tastes a lot better than other times. I also only buy live crabs; not only do they taste better, but they are also safer since bacteria starts developing rapidly once they die. I got mine from 99 Ranch for $5.99/lb.

Here are the ingredients for filling. Half serving of mixed grain brown rice, 1/3 pack of white beech mushroom, iceberg strips.

Heat up oil in a pan and start stir frying beech mushroom over medium heat. Remember to always start with ingredients that take longer to cook. In this case rice and crab meat were cooked, only need to be heated up. Iceberg should go in last to keep its crunch.

Add in rice and 1 tea spoon of salt and stir evenly.

Add crab meat and the juice from shell to pan and mix

Lastly add in iceberg and stir fry till it releases moisture and softens. Then put everything in a bowl. Heat 2 spoons of oil in the pan and pour in 2 beat eggs.

When eggs are half solidified, put the fillings on one side and cover with the other side. Cook for another 30 second and ready to plate.

This is the best of two worlds! Hearty but light; rich in flavor but still fresh. It’s got balanced nutrients from whole grains, veggies, eggs and crab meat.

My husband devoured the omelet rice in seconds. This is the first time I made this dish, next time I’d consider cutting the iceberg into thinner strips.