Pumpkin Congee -Nutritional Value

This recipe came about because when I tried to make Pumpkin Rice again, I accidentally added too much water in the rice cooker. The result was wet, mushy and sticky rice which is not nice at all. Instead of throwing it away, I thought of converting the yucky wet rice to porridge and it works totally! I just dump the half-cooked rice into a thermal cooker, add about 1-2 litres of water, and bravo, we had yummy pumpkin congee that day and this accidental recipe is now a keeper’s.

Pumpkin nutrition than whole, higher nutritional value. Delicate pumpkin than glucose and vitamin c rich old pumpkin. High calcium, iron, carotene content of old pumpkin. These are more favourable to control asthma. Chinese medicine think pumpkin Wen Weigan, into the spleen and stomach. With buzhong Yiqi, anti-inflammatory analgesic, toxin insecticidal function.

Can be used for fatigue, intercostal neuralgia due to Qi deficiency, malaria, dysentery, solution of opium poison, flooding ascariasis, asthma, diabetes and other disorders. Eat pumpkin, can make the free movement of the bowels, skin beautiful, especially for women, beauty, famous official Zhang Zhidong proposed during the Qing dynasty Empress Dowager Cixi eat pumpkin. Pumpkin can also prevent stroke, pumpkin oil contains a lot of sub-MAREN acid, Palmitic acid, stearic acid, are good quality oil.

When making pumpkin porridge, increase the quantity of salted fish, lean meat and butter.  With so much water, I wanted the congee to still taste as rich as the Pumpkin Rice. I also added red dates & dried scallops to enhance the taste.

Ingredients(Serves 4)
- 150g pumpkin (without skin), cut to small cubes
- 200g pork belly (aka sam cham bak, 3-layered pork, 3), cut to thin stripes
- 2 portebello or shiitake mushrooms, cut to big cubes
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 cup of rice, washed
- 6 dried scallops
- 10 red dates
- 2 litres of water
- 50g butter
- 1 tbsp wolfberries
- 2 tsp of light soy sauce, to taste
- 30g salted fish, cut to small bits

Directions

1. Fry pork slices in wok. When pork is entirely cooked on the surface, take out and set aside on a plate.
2. Heat butter in wok. Saute garlic, onions and salted fish until the onions are clear. Add pumpkin, mushrooms and stir fry for a short while.
3. Add uncooked rice and stir fry until the rice is well coated in the ingredients.
4. Transfer contents of the wok to a soup pot. Add wolfberries, red dates, previously cooked pork, water and bring to a boil. Stir the base of the pot frequently to prevent the rice from sticking to the base.
5. Simmer on a low heat for about 20-30 minutes (or longer if you want congee*), while leaving lid partially covered (if you cover fully, the water will spill over). Season with light soy sauce.