Manuka Honey Swirled, Asian Inspired Porridge

If you’re looking for a solid meal for breakfast but are also thinking about adding an Asian twist, then this Manuka Honey Swirled, Asian Inspired Porridge was designed just for your taste buds! Adding the rich sweetness of Manuka honey into a rice or quinoa grain (rather than typical oats) brings flavor to an already full array of options, whether it’s chicken, salmon, lime, scallions, chilies, shallots, you name it.

It doesn’t matter if you’re fixing breakfast or just have a bunch of random ingredients all fitting into this recipe—this dish is the college apartment flashback, thrown-together gem of a meal that could just as easily have been made in your favorite restaurant, albeit with a higher price and without the comfort of your own home. Also, this recipe is a one-person meal, so if you expect to share, better adjust the recipe accordingly. Now, let’s get started!

Ingredients for Manuka Honey Swirled Porridge

1 cup cooked rice

1 cup chicken stock (or water)

pinch of salt

Optional for grainier texture/more fiber:

¼ cup whole-grain wild rice (baked until puffed) or ¼ cup black quinoa (baked until puffed)

¼ cup and 1/8 cup Manuka honey

For garnish, choose as many options as desired:

blanched pulled chicken meat

scallions, thinly sliced

dried chilies

pomegranate arils

pomelo arils

fresh lime

toasted nuts

flaked cooked salmon

fried shallots

Directions for Manuka Honey Swirled Porridge

Rinse the rice, and use a rice cooker or your kitchen stove to cook the rice. Boil water on the stove, and once added, check rice every 10 minutes until tender. For a rice cooker, use settings to cook the rice or quinoa, about ½ half cup of water for ¼ cup of wild brown rice or black quinoa or 1 and ¾ cups for white rice. You can also soak rice for thirty minutes beforehand to speed up cooking.
In heavy bottomed sauce pot, place stock or water, along with the cooked rice and pinch of salt. Bring to low simmer for 8 to 10 minutes until mixture becomes starchy and thickened. Add additional grain choice if desired.
Remove from heat and let stand for about 5 minutes to allow for full heating and hydration of added grain.
Slowly swirl in Manuka honey without over-mixing in order to allow for a contrasting spoon.
Add additional garnish as you prefer and to your liking.
This recipe yields one serving, so of course if you plan to serve more than yourself or just one person, be sure to adjust the recipe proportions accordingly.
And most importantly, enjoy your Manuka honey porridge!