Congee and porridge

According to some studies, breakfast is the most important meal of the day because it may help to regulate appetite and energy. What food do you normally have for breakfast, the Chinese-style congee or the Western-style bread? Among Chinese people, the most traditional breakfast food is congee. When eaten as plain congee, it is often served with side dishes such as deep-fried dough sticks and salted duck eggs. Quite often we prepare the congee with additional ingredients, such as meat and fish. Which kind of congee do you like most?

While congee is not a common food in Western culture, it is sometimes called “rice porridge” by Western people. Instead of using rice, it is more common for Western people to cook oats in water or milk to make a thick sticky food. While British people call it “porridge”, American people call it “oatmeal”. In other parts of the world, other grains may be used such as maize porridge and millet porridge. 

Nowadays, to meet the needs of busy families, some food companies are promoting instant oatmeal. It usually comes in small, pre-cooked packets with sweetener and flavouring added. It is referred to as “instant” because once mixed with boiling water and stirred, it is ready within a minute. However, there are arguments whether instant oatmeal is as healthy as the traditional one or not.

In Hong Kong, due to Western influence, we have a great variety of breakfast dishes. As breakfast is the most important meal of the day, it is essential that we choose healthy food to give us plenty of nutrition to start off a busy day.

Congee: 粥

Deep-fried dough sticks: 油條

Porridge (oatmeal): 糊；粥

Instant oatmeal: 即食燕麥片

Nutrition: 營養