Easy Peasy Basil Rice Porridge - Bubur Selasih

Basil Rice Porridge - Bubur Selasih with fresh local basil and fried fish..yumms!

Don't you just love the smell of basil. It's so refreshing. Every time I go out into my 'garden-in-the-sky' (I live in an apartment..hence the word sky appears..haha), I will pick a basil leaf and tear it and take a whiff....just wonderful! So far, I have 3 types of basil plants in my garden. Italian basil, Lemon basil and the local basil known as 'daun selasih'. The biggest leaves are definitely from the lemon basil plant..smallest being the local ones...but ALL very very fragrant. As I have learnt from the lady at the herb nursery, the local basils need plenty of water and sunshine as for the Italian and lemon basil, need not be watered too much and indirect sunlight or partial sunlight is sufficient. I'm pretty much new at gardening, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong as I go along..haha. 

on the left is our local basil known as daun selasih and on the right is lemon basil

Anyway, as for the basil porridge..it's something I think I first saw my aunty make. My mother makes the same too. But there are many variations to this recipe and you don't have to stick to the same old recipe. Be creative, use up what ever is in the refrigerator or freezer, make it to suit your baby and make it to suit adults. I find my mother put in dory fillets in hers and it tastes wonderful! As for me, I didn't have any dory so I either put in prawns with their shells (for better flavor), or plain as it is and eaten with pan fried fish or chicken fillets. By the way, my 1 year 5 month old (young..hahha) baby loves this! Every time I make this porridge, I don't have to chase him around the house to get him to eat. He was more than willing to sit quietly on my lap as he ate this wonderful..(or magical...hahha..works wonders on his attention span) porridge. In my opinion, put in more vegetables if your baby loves carrots and peas and even diced potatoes. You can even put spinach in it too. As for the basic version..I like to keep it simple for newbies and you can add as you like. Here is the recipe and have a go at it!

Basil Rice Porridge - Bubur Selasih

serves 1-2 persons

Ingredients:

1/2 - 1 cup uncooked rice

2 cups filtered water or more. Depending on how thick you want your porridge.

1 handful or basil leaves - left whole or chiffonade(fancy terms!haha)

2 thin slices ginger (can be grated or cut into matchsticks but I couldn't be bothered, slices are easier to remove before serving the porridge for babies)

1-2 cloves garlic (I like mine whole or cracked..not sliced or easy removal..you could do otherwise)

1 medium onion (whole for me..hahha..reasons as above..or you can thinly slice it)

1-2 tablespoons of fish sauce *optional

1 dash of white pepper

salt

*optional: add diced carrots, peas, spinach, corn, prawns, chicken fillets, dory or other boneless white fish fillets, tuna

Instructions:

1. Wash uncooked rice under running water
2. Put the clean rice in a pot on the stove over medium fire, add the water, garlic, ginger and onion and leave to cook. At this stage you can add your diced carrots too)
3. As the porridge becomes thicker and the rice has lost some shape (no longer the shape of individual grains of rice), add in the basil leaves, fish sauce, salt and pepper. You can also add in your chicken fillets, boneless fish fillets or prawns too. I don't like to add in earlier as it takes time to cook the rice. If you put it in too early the prawns will lose their juiciness and the fish or chicken will dry out.
4. Leave to cook until the fish/prawns/chicken is cooked.
5. All done..?? yes..all done...haha. Serve warm with pan fried fish or chicken if plain or serve as it is if you have cooked it with the chicken/fish or prawns. Top of with fresh basil leaves. Ohhh..and meat or chicken floss on top would be great too..yummmmy on a cold rainy day.

Is that banana fritters on the side there? hmm..I'm feeling hungry already.