THERE is a particular kind of frustration that comes with inheriting recipes that were never written down.
They exist instead as a faint but persistent echo of flavours you are certain you remember correctly until you attempt to recreate them.
My mother’s cooking has always lived in that space.
I often find myself reconstructing her dishes by taste and recollection, trying to piece together the quiet logic behind them.
One such dish is congee, the traditional rice porridge that sits at the heart of Cantonese comfort food.
This version, with mushrooms, peanuts and chicken, is deceptively simple but built on a few crucial techniques.
Dried shiitake mushrooms and raw peanuts are soaked overnight, then gently braised until tender.
While this typically takes a couple of hours, a pressure cooker reduces the time to about 40 minutes.
The second technique is one my mother swore by: marinating rinsed rice with oil and salt. It sounds almost unnecessary, but transforms the final texture.
Each grain softens and breaks down more willingly, yielding a congee that is smooth, cohesive and luxuriously thick without being gluey.
Efficiency, too, plays a role.
Rather than steaming the chicken separately, place it on a rack directly above the simmering congee. As it cooks, its juices drip into the pot, quietly enriching the porridge.
It is the sort of small, thoughtful method that rarely makes it into written recipes, yet defines home cooking at its best.
The finishing touches are the familiar soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, spring onions and fried shallots, but my grandmother would go one step further, topping hers with crisped rice vermicelli for added texture.
It is a small flourish, but one that turns a humble bowl into something rather special.
This is the kind of meal that does not announce itself loudly, yet lingers long after.
As Mothers Day approaches, it feels like an appropriate tribute in my attempt to preserve, in some small way, the flavours that shaped my understanding of food and home.
Happy Mothers Day to all mothers.
Mushroom peanut congee
Ingredients
8 caps dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked overnight in 1 cup water
1½ cups raw peanuts, soaked overnight in 1 cup water
170g raw rice
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 tsp salt
6 cups cold water
400g chicken breast
Condiments
30g ginger, finely julienned
1 stalk spring onion, diced
Soy sauce
Sesame oil
Fried shallot chips
20g rice vermicelli
Directions
Squeeze excess water from the soaked mushrooms and slice thinly. Combine mushrooms, their soaking liquid, peanuts and the cold water in a pressure cooker. Cook on high pressure for 40 minutes until tender.
Rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Drain thoroughly, then marinate with cooking oil and salt for 30 minutes.
Once the mushrooms and peanuts are tender, bring the liquid back to a boil if needed, then add the marinated rice.
When the mixture begins to boil, place a steaming rack over the pot and set the chicken on top.
Cover and steam for about 20 minutes, until cooked through.
Remove the chicken and allow it to cool completely before shredding by hand. Set aside.
Continue simmering the congee for another 10 minutes until the rice has fully broken down into a smooth porridge.
Refrain from stirring at any stage as the starch will settle and burn at the bottom of the pot. Stir only towards the end once the congee has thickened and the grains have largely disintegrated.
Meanwhile, heat oil until very hot and fry the rice vermicelli briefly until puffed and crisp.
Remove and drain on paper towels. Return the shredded chicken to the congee, season with salt and white pepper to taste, and serve hot.
Serve with soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, spring onions, fried shallots and crispy vermicelli as desired.
