You know I find writing mildly
cathartic, some days it’s a good way to pour out the frustrations of
life, other days its a way to share the joys, and still on others it
allows one to give voice to emotion. It’s a path that doesn’t always go
in any specific direction, but is always fun to travel. Today I think it
is a bit of everything.
Frustration in that I am a weight loss
yo-yo. I am going mildly nuts trying to get over the 50lb mark. I need
only 1 lb loss to get there and it just doesn’t want to move. That’s not
exactly true...it moves, just all over my body. I now fit in a size 16
pants (down from a 26 when i first started) but my rotten bra is to
small. Just what I need....bigger boobs. So that one lb just moved
locations and didn’t vacate...i am sure being sick and spending 2 weeks
on the couch didn’t help this but it is what it is.
Its finally a
joyful day because its the first day in 2 weeks where I actually feel
good. Mild sniffles and cough left from being ill but that’s about all.
Love that. Now here is hoping I stay germ free. I work in a germ warfare
factory (elementary school) so you never know what will come about. Since I have been feeling under the weather lately, this is a normal
occurrence since I work in a school. Small children in confined spaces =
germs...lots of them. The sicker I am, the more I want soup and
crackers. So far this week i have made kimchi Soup, Potato Soup and had
canned noodle soup. Now i am taking my first trip into the world of
congee/jook or rice porridge. Its the Asian version of the dish
everyone's mom makes the best but is a bit different from household to
household. The base of the jook is very simple, rice, water, ginger,
broth....what changes are the proteins. Some recipes call for it cooked
with a slice of pook belly for flavor, others use diced chicken or
shrimp or turkey. The toppings vary by personal taste. Fish sauce,
sesame oil, scallions or a bit of oyster sauce. One even uses plums. I
took a bit of everything I liked and put in into this recipe. Its not
traditional this way but its damn good and simple to make. Not to
mention you get the warm fuzzy feeling that comes with a nice hot bowl
of comfort food.
On
that note, being sick and not being able to swallow anything but soup
lent itself to a few rather wonderful discoveries. New recipes. I am
addicted to sites like www.foodgawker.com or www.pinterest.com. I love
to try new things and I love to cook. And one can only do so much
chicken noodle soup in a month before it gets old. So being the "google"
diva that I am I looked into other cultures versions of the proverbial
chicken noodle soup. I found two recipes that have made a permanent home
in my kitchen. Jook/Congee which is the Asian version of chicken noodle
soup and also the world’s simplest thing to make, and Kimchi Soup.
I
love Asian food, mostly because its flavorful, I love to cook things I
can't get in a restaurant around here (this is most things
unfortunately...its hell living in a back woods version of a heehaw
rerun) and i like the challenge of taking things that would normally be
off limits because of point quantity and making them just as good but
healthy. Juk/Congee is simple. 8 cups of vegetable broth, 1.5 cups of
short grain rice, 1tbs ginger, 2tbs garlic, 4 oz diced chicken,4. oz
diced raw shrimp. Throw it all in a crock pot for 4 hours and serve with
some green onion, Shoyu and sriracha. Add a bit more water if its to
thick. Its essentially a rice porridge that makes 8 cups at 1 cup per
serving. At 5 points per serving, its warm, filling and one of those
foods that makes you feel like the worlds going to be ok.
The
other was more a desperate attempt on my part to clear my sinuses and
revive my taste buds. Its also has a bunch of harder to find ingredients
such as Han-dashi, Kombu and Kimchi. If you like spicy, flavor
explosions, this soup will do it. What’s nice is I was able to add or
subtract what I wanted in it depending on my mood. The broth is basic.
Han-dashi, ginger, garlic, Kombu and a cup of diced kimchi with juices
in water or vegetable broth. Simple. Then you can add ramen noodles, or
hardboiled egg, steak, fresh thin sliced vegetables or pretty much
whatever you think would be good in it, or if you had limited ability to
swallow as I did, just some crackers and the broth is fine. The points
vary depending on the condiments you add. But the broth itself is
essentially free.
Unfortunately soups were not all I ate and we
wont discuss some of the bad dietary choices that occurred, I blame it
on the fever. However, discoveries are a good thing.
JOOK
1.5 cups rice
6 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
4 oz diced chicken
1 tbs minced garlic
1 tbs minced ginger
6-8 whole unpeeled shrimp
1/2 cup scallions
1 1/4 " slice pork belly
Optional:
Fish sauce
Sesame oil
oyster sauce
sriracha
fresh cilantro or parsley.
In a crock pot add the rinsed rice, all of the liquid garlic, ginger and chicken. Add pork belly. Peel the and take the head off of the shrimp and set aside. De-vein the shrimp and chop into small pieces. Add the shrimp meat to the broth. put the shrimp shells/heads in cheese cloth and make a pouch. Add pouch to broth. Cook for 2 hours then remove the cheese cloth pouch and pork belly. Cook for another two hours. Add more water if the jook becomes to thick. It should be thick but you dont want it so thick your spoon stands in it. Top with scallion and serve. Or add a touch of the optional seasonings . I personally enjoy a touch of oyster sauce.
Red and green pepper, 1 cup
