things that go together #3

in praise of rice porridge

“If light is scarce then light is scarce; we will immerse ourselves in the darkness and there discover its own particular beauty.”

that’s a quote from one of my favorite essays, “In Praise of Shadows” by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, which is one of the most influential diatribes against conventional western aesthetics. it’s so scathing in its criticism of the european enlightenment era and in the same couple of pages will also glorify toilets (ikykyk). in short, it’s a masterpiece about the importance of contrast.

today, i am here to talk to you about contrast and toilets as well. i just got back from my second mexico city trip of the year (LUCKY ME) and unfortunately on my last day went down violently (LESS LUCKY ME).

woman, ecstatic, receives plate of sardines to herself (2023)

so after another week of mesmerizing, inspirational food excursions to parcela, masala y maiz, maximo bistrot, rosetta, and the amazing quesadilla lady on the corner of colima and merida…i am on rice.

but there is beauty in simplicity as there is beauty in darkness, and also i am very good at tricking my brain into thinking i am eating different things when it’s all just rice.

in praise of rice porridge

avgolemono i made last night when i was feeling like maybe i could finally incorporate a little green into my rice diet

rice goes with everything, and sometimes it goes great just with water and salt. jook dates back to 1,000 b.c. and apparently was “the first non-milk food given to babies.” for when you’re sick, homesick, hungover, or a baby — jook is there for you. it’s basically savory, textured gatorade (not my best metaphor).

a quick note on jook vs. congee — “all jook is congee, but not all congee is jook.” congee is linguistically manipulated and transformed from tamil, portuguese, and english. jook is the original cantonese word.

every culture has a rice porridge. i grew up eating the filipino version called arroz caldo, which has lots of calamansi, ginger, chicken, fish sauce, green onion, and crispy garlic chips and shallots. my dad loves dimsum congee which often has century egg and pork. there’s the greek lemony, dilly, egg-enriched avgolemono. and there’s a korean dakjuk that’s got chicken, soy sauce, mushrooms, and sesame oil. i love it so much that we even did a slutty version for a virgo supperclub pop up awhile back.

the gist

you’re going to boil rice and liquid together for an hour. that’s it. i also like this instant pot recipe if you want it extra easy.

the appropriate ratio is 1 cup of rice to at least 6 cups of liquid and maybe 9 if you want it to be more soupy. i’m a short grain girl, but use any kind of rice you’ve got on hand. note that it’ll take longer if you do brown rice.

the key to flavortown is good broth. for virgo supperclub, garrett made a ginger, lemongrass, chili broth that was iNsAnE. i like chicken bone broth from scratch or the store. and since i’m a seaweed girlTM i’ve been known to do cold-soaked kombu, dried shiitakes, and bonito flakes.

let’s talk toppings. this is where all the fun is. i like to lay them all out in bowls like a buffet and it’s a really good way to impress people with simple food that was essentially made for babies.

• salt: soy sauce, fish sauce, msg, salt, celery

• fat: sesame oil, olive oil, chicken fat, scallion oil

• acid: rice vinegar, lemon, lime, pickled radish, pickled onions

• heat: hot sesame oil, pickled chilis, chili oil

• freshies: scallions, cilantro, parsley

• crispies: fried shallots, fried garlic, breadcrumbs, tortilla strips, nori

• chewies: dry-fried oyster mushrooms, pan-fried chinese sausage

• softies: poached and shredded chicken thighs or breast meat, jammy snacks

lmk if you’ve got favs here that i’m missing!

presenting: the hot rice girl summer diet

just to come full circle — there really is a jook for every occasion. and when you’re sick, well, that’s an occasion, sweetie.

also as a note and a ~VaLuE~, i would never go on a diet. but if one must temporarily limit one’s inputs in order to decrease one’s outputs due to mexican galavanting, well then here we are.

the schedule:

day 0: expel your insides, clutch your guts in pain, shake your sweaty fist at the higher powers, pray them and apologize for shaking your fist, wonder if this is just life now, sip coconut electrolit (actually kind of lit) and chicken broth. no rice today.

day 1: arroz caldo made with a whole piece of ginger in chicken broth for flavor, extra soupy (1:9 ratio). add lemon and fish sauce to your afternoon bowl if you’re feeling daring.

day 2: avgolemono with solids and herbs on the side just in case you’re not there yet.

day 3: jook with sesame oil, soy sauce, green onion, and a jammy egg if you can muster it.