Recipe: Millet And Corn Porridge
In my last article on the residents of Guanxi, China’s ‘longevity village’, one of the centenarians was quoted as saying that he ate sweetcorn congee a lot. If alarm bells are ringing and you think this blog is going to be about every possible version of rice porridge… then you’re right. After all, my new food rule to live by is:
Eat less, eat boring, and make every mouthful count
Inspired by his statement, I used millet and broken corn (also known as maize grits) to make a stupidly simple, creamy, golden yellow porridge.
Millet was one of the Five Grains, the fundamental building blocks of crop cultivation in ancient China. As an ancient grain, it is for some reason not as trendy as it should be. To be accurate, millet was last at the height of fashion during the Xia and Shang dynasties (2070–1046BC) when it was the staple crop in the north, before being supplanted by wheat. Thankfully millet and other ‘coarse grains’ such as buckwheat and sorghum are starting to be revived in mainland China.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine millet is considered a nourishing ‘yin’ food and often given to postpartum mothers. It apparently even managed to sustain Chairman Mao and his Red Army during their campaigns against the Kuomintang and the invading Japanese.
Anyhow, millet makes a good case for introducing more grain diversity into your diet; it’s higher in fibre and protein than brown rice and is a good source of magnesium, potassium, iron and vitamin B.
Let me know if you try this recipe and share your results on Instagram with #CelestialPeach.
Ingredients
½ cup millet (foxtail millet is the most commonly available Chinese variety)
½ cup broken corn
8 cups of water
5–6 dried mushrooms (optional)
Pinch of salt (optional)
Instructions (serves 4)
In a large saucepan, cover the millet and broken corn with the water and bring to the boil. Add two more cups of water if you prefer it a bit more watery.
Add dried mushrooms if desired to add depth of flavour. Here I have used some dried agaricus blazei.
Reduce the heat to a bubbling simmer and stir occasionally for about 30 minutes until the porridge is thick and creamy.
Season with salt if required.
Eat it with sweet or savoury accompaniments — or just as is.
