Century egg and pork porridge
You wouldn’t think of eating porridge in Singapore. The weather is blisteringly hot all the time that the last thing I want to do when I’m in the country is to eat a bowl of congee. But one year when I was living in Singapore, there was a freak dip in temperature and I woke up one morning with a craving for porridge. A Google search brought up Sin Heng Kee, an unassuming corner eatery in Hougang, and it’s been one of my favourite places to eat at ever since.
The curious thing is that even when it isn’t rainy or cold in Singapore, there’s a perpetual line at Sin Heng Kee, which is a testament to how good their food is. What I appreciate about their porridge is that it is well-seasoned and generous with the mix-ins. Century egg and lean pork is a classic, and theirs, if I recall correctly, comes with little handmade meatballs, each no larger than a quail egg.
Rice typically takes at least an hour to break down into porridge but there are ways to nudge the process along. When making century egg porridge, in particular, it is recommended to mash the eggs into the rice as their alkalinity helps to kickstart the breakdown, shortening the cook time.
A friend, Colin, gave me a tip earlier this year when I shared about chicken porridge: use frozen rice. The water basically penetrates the rice grains and, when frozen, the water expands. This cracks the grains open, allowing them to disintegrate quickly when heated. I’d procrastinated giving this a go for the longest time because I’m hardly the kind of cook that plans ahead for casual meals. Dinner at home is typically whatever we feel like eating in that moment, rather than a premeditated affair that begins the day before. But then I realised something: rice grains, being small as they are, will probably not require an overnight freeze. Turns out, it only takes an hour or so. Which works out just fine because the little meatballs and lean pork will need to be marinated.
With frozen rice, the porridge comes together in 30 minutes, with the active time being just a fraction of this duration. I always get a raw egg dropped into my porridge at Sin Heng Kee - the raw egg ‘cooks’ in the residual heat of the porridge just enough to lend a rich creaminess - but soft-boiled eggs work just as well.
Century egg and pork porridge
Serves 2