Every now and then someone will ask me to list my comfort foods. For some reason, I'm always hard-pressed to come up with a good answer right on the spot. I know that the first food items that pop into mind are usually mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, grilled cheeses and tomato soup, maybe some fried chicken, the list goes on. Comfort food to me definitely encompasses many of those dishes, but one of my favorite comfort foods that I, for some reason, always forget to mention is rice porridge or "xi fan".
My sister once commented that having porridge reminds her of our grandma, and I wholeheartedly agree. Having porridge now doesn't just remind me of how my grandma used to always cook it, it reminds me of her voice -- "nini, xi fan hao le! (steph, porridge is ready!), and of her smile and her laugh. And that, I think, is the essence of what comfort food really is. It's food that reminds you of family and home.
Now, the Lo household took your typical porridge dinner up a notch tonight. Normally we just have the porridge and your go-to canned fixings -- spicy fermented tofu (dou fu ru), soy gluten with peanuts (mian jing), pickles, maybe some canned sardines in spicy tomato sauce, and of course pork sung (rou song) and fish floss (yu song). We definitely had ourselves some rou song and yu song tonight, but we also whipped up some other tasty delights to go with our meal.
Millet porridge (xiao mi xi fan)
Taiwanese pork sausage (xiang chang) with garlic
Firm tofu (dou gan) with some green onions and sesame oil
"Scrambled" eggs with scallions
And some cold tofu with "thousand year old egg", chopped green onions, soy sauce, and sesame oil on top
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