This is a very old family favourite recipe that I learnt from my mother-in-law, a Hokkien style porridge that is very simple to cook and incredibly sumptuous to eat!
Minced Pork with Tau Kwa Porridge
Ingredients:
1. 1 cup of white grain rice. (Soaked overnight)
2. 300-400g minced pork.
3. A packet of Tau Kwa. (Firm Tofu, I use the Fortune brand 2-in-1)
4. Spring Onions
5. 1/2 tsp Salt
6. 1 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
7. 1 tsp Corn or Potato Starch
Instructions:
1. Rinse the Tau Kwa (Firm Tofu) and dry it, then cut into cubes. Also wash the spring onions and chop them for garnishing later.
2. Season the minced pork with 1 tsp corn or potato starch, 1/2 tsp of salt and 1 tbsp of light soy sauce. Mix well and let it marinate for awhile before cooking.
3. Heat up a non-stick pan with oil.
4.
Add in the Tau Kwa cubes and fry them till slightly golden brown. Then set aside.
Tip: You can actually prepare this ahead of time way before cooking if you need to!
5. Transfer the soaked rice into the rice cooking pot. Add 2/3 pot of water based on your pot size.
6. Turn the rice cooker on. If you have a specific porridge mode, use it. Otherwise, a normal rice cooker usually takes around 30mins to cook.
7. Let it cook until the rice grains are broken up.
Tip: When using ordinary rice cooker or pot, be sure to never close the lid at this point otherwise it will overflow!
8. Slowly add in the minced pork, portion by portion, while using chopsticks to stir and break them up in the rice. Let the meat cook for around 5mins in the rice cooker pot.
9. Then add in the Tau Kwa cubes. Mix well with the pork meats and rice. Season the porridge with some salt and light soy sauce to taste.
10. Then be sure to set the rice cooker to warm mode or simply turn it off if you do not wish to accidentally overcook the porridge.
11. It is done! Be sure to serve with the spring onions, and if you wish, some fried shallots and pepper!