White Porridge and Salted Eggs

Last night, I had two big bowls of white porridge and two salted eggs (chao trang hot vit mui), the all time classic Vietnamese dish. Because of its simplicity, it is the perfect choice when you are ill or having a poor appetite. I was not ill nor having a poor appetite. I was simply running out of food in my apartment, which reminded me that a trip home is absolutely necessary.

Luckily, mom gave me a dozen of salted eggs a while ago. She made them herself but I think you can get them at a Vietnamese store. Not sure what she did but I think the eggs was sitting in that saline water for months and that is now the eggs get salty. All I had to do was boiled two of them. With the leftover rice from the day before, I just added water and cooked until it looked similar to oatmeal.

That’s it. Plain and simple but it gives you a delightful flavor. Split the egg in half, scoop a spoonful of hot porridge with a tiny bit of salted egg at a time. Just blow, splurp and swallow. Yes, you don’t even need to chew. How joyful can that be? Eating without chewing. Make sure you scrape everything off the egg and only throw away the outer cells. So when you are feeling not too well, especially with a cold, this classic cuisine is your best medication. Once you try it, you will never go back to chicken noodle soup.