Porridge shops are all the rage these days, with their signature claim that drinking porridge is healthy. However, the porridge in these shops is pre-cooked and kept warm until a customer arrives, at which point different ingredients are added. This method of making porridge is not only not healthy but also unhealthy. So, how should one really cook porridge to make it a truly healthy dish?
Red Jujube, Coix Seed, and Millet Porridge
Keeping warm for a long time leads to a loss of B vitamins
Problem: Most of the porridge in shops is made from plain white congee. A large batch of plain white congee is cooked and kept warm in a pot, ready to be mixed with corresponding ingredients as soon as a customer orders. Porridge that has been kept warm for several hours will inevitably suffer a significant loss of vitamins. To speed up the cooking process, some shops even add alkali to the porridge, which promotes the breakdown of starch granules but leads to a much more severe loss of B vitamins.
Tips: Try to choose porridge made with mixed grains, as they are rich in B vitamins. Even if some are lost during the warming process, a significant amount will remain due to their high initial content. Furthermore, B vitamins are also widely found in foods like beans, meat, dairy, and eggs. When drinking porridge, you can pair it with some bean-based side dishes or a fried egg.
Ingredients are not fresh
Problem: The most important thing for making porridge is good ingredients, especially mixed grains, which can give the porridge a natural aroma. However, when eating at a porridge shop, you often find that the ingredients don't seem very fresh. This is because various mixed grains contain germ embryos, which contain unsaturated fatty acids and lipoxygenase, posing a risk of fat oxidation. They are not very shelf-stable and can easily develop a stale, off-odor.
Tips: Lotus seed porridge, coix seed porridge, and nut porridge are most prone to these issues. Be cautious when ordering these. If you detect a stale taste, be sure to give feedback to the shop immediately.
3 grams of salt in a bowl of savory porridge
Problem: Porridge is roughly divided into two styles: northern and southern. In the north, people eat mixed grain or bean porridge without salt, and whether to add sugar is a personal choice. In the south, porridge is almost always savory, with various ingredients like fish, meat, and eggs added. Northern porridge is healthier as it contains no oil or salt. Even if some vitamins are lost, it still provides a good amount of dietary fiber and minerals, such as in red bean porridge, mung bean porridge, eight-treasure porridge, coix seed porridge, and five-nut porridge. Southern porridge includes salt and even MSG. A 300-gram bowl of savory porridge can contain about 3 grams of salt, which is not suitable for people with hypertension.
Tips: If you are not diabetic, you can choose plain grain porridge or sweet porridge. Or, after ordering, you can ask the shop not to add salt or sugar. If you must have savory porridge, be sure to pair it with light-tasting staple foods and side dishes.
Iced porridge can harm the stomach
Problem: Like other cold foods, iced porridge can cause blood vessels in the gastrointestinal tract to constrict, affecting digestion and absorption.
Tips: Don't gulp down large bowls of sweet iced porridge just for a moment of cool relief. It's better to drink warm porridge.
In fact, when making porridge at home, there's no need to learn the complex restaurant recipes for dishes like "Century Egg and Lean Pork Porridge." Traditional millet porridge and others are classic examples of the best healthy porridge. Using the freshest ingredients, the simplest foods, and the least amount of oil and salt to cook porridge is the true way to achieve health benefits.
Red-tree rice porridge