Leftovers recipe: Pumpkin Rice Porridge

I have recovered a bit from a cold and this recipe that I made with leftover food was just the right warm comfort food that I needed, when I wasn't feeling well and didn't have much of an appetite. Now that it is getting colder, having a bowl of warm food as breakfast is great too. I normally make rice porridge in the traditional Chinese way, but I happened to have some leftover pumpkin in the refrigerator, so I tried making pumpkin rice porridge for the first time. The amazing orange color of this pumpkin rice porridge should cheer you up in the dreary mornings.

What you need to make this Pumpkin Rice Porridge

- one bowl of (leftover) stir-fried or steamed pumpkin in small bite-size pieces
- one bowl of (leftover) rice
- water
- optional: fish paste or surimi sticks in small cubes

I first put the pumpkin and the rice in a sauce pan together with a bit of water. After it started to boil, I let it slowly simmer on low heat. If you didn't add a bit of sugar when you stir-fried or steamed the pumpkin, you can add half a table spoon now and stir well. After some time, the pumpkin pieces and rice will become a thick, orange rice porridge. Then, you can add the fish paste or surimi sticks cubes. Let it cook for a few minutes for the sweet seafood flavor to be mixed into the pumpkin rice porridge. 

Update: I made a YouTube video of how to make this pumpkin rice porridge (congee). You can find it here.