Category — Breakfast

Squash soups are often made savory, but why not sweet? Over Chinese New Year weekend I had tea with good friends at the Guangzhou Restaurant, where we tried a pumpkin corn porridge. It was delicious and simple enough to recreate at home. The porridge is flexible – it can be an indulgent dessert with a heavy hand in coconut milk and sugar, or daily breakfast porridge.

The recreation made with Japanese Kobocha pumpkin.

When planning a dinner with a savory squash dish, consider making this unique soup for dessert – it’s a great way to use an ingredient two ways.

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Please welcome guest blogger Kimberly, my youngest sister and fellow restaurant baby, who shares with us her favorite oatmeal recipe. ~Madeline

Michigan winters are tough. But we Michiganders know a few tricks of the trade: Wear long underwear. And start your day off with a hot and hearty bowl of oatmeal.

Ever since I was introduced to steel cut oats, I have not gone back to using rolled oats for oatmeal. Steel cut oats make for heartier and creamier oatmeal. They are less processed than rolled oats. And the name “steel cut” comes from the fact that the oat kernels have been cut by steel blades.

These oats take a while to cook down over the stove top, about forty minutes.  I much prefer to have them cook in the slow cooker overnight. So, by morning, breakfast is ready and waiting for me before I even slip my booties on.  In the winter, I make this oatmeal at least once a week because morning comes before the sun rises, and the simple task of getting out from bed turns into a challenge;  but the sweet aromas of cardamom and cinnamon emanating from my slow cooker help to alert my senses, and lure me out from bed and into the kitchen.

There are infinite ways in which one can make oatmeal. But this particular combination of spices, and the addition of sweet potato and dried dates really hits the spot for me.

May you stay warm, and start your mornings smart. [Read more →]

Campbell has an Asian line of condense soups:  Hot and Sour, Chicken with Winter Melon, Scallop with Seafood.   Then why doesn’t Quaker Oats have an Asian line of instant oatmeal:  Ginger + Pian Tang, Masala Brown Sugar, Chinese almond, or Black Sesame?

It is just a matter of time.

When I visited my friend Lee Ann and Jay, I woke up to a hot breakfast prepared by Jay’s mom.  She made her doctored instant oatmeal.  I predict we’ll be seeing Quaker infiltrating the Asian market with a new line of instant flavors, and they better give Auntie Chu the credit!  This black sesame oatmeal may have been inspired from the black sesame pudding or soup (tong sui)  “zi ma wu” – a Cantonese dessert.

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