I used to think it was just my eccentric tastes that drew me to things like a savory porridge in the morning, or even for lunch.
But I have been seeing some versions of it in restaurants recently, such as Mission Chinese with shrimp and egg, or even as a bread pudding-like rye bread porridge dessert (at Acme).
Trust me, this version – with rye bread, garlic, and soy sauce – really hits the spot.
Ideally, this is made with steel cut oats, but if you’re in a hurry, you can use regular oats too.
You’ll need:
- 1 cup steelcut oatmeal
- 2 cups water
- 2 t soy sauce
- pinch of salt
- 3 cloves young (spring) garlic
- 2 pieces rye bread
1. Combine water, salt, and oats in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook until oats are just tender (usually about 5 minutes, with steel cut it will take closer to 15 or 20 minutes).
2. Stir in the soy sauce into the porridge. Thinly slice the young garlic cloves, mix some of them into the porridge and reserve the rest for topping.
3. Toast bread. Layer one piece of rye bread in the serving bowl (cut the other piece in half and reserve for topping) and pour porridge over it. Top with remaining garlic and bread and a sprinkle of soy sauce.
Porridge always looks so much better than oatmeal. What a cool twist.
Oh wow, I’ve never come across the idea of savoury porridge 🙂 Sounds delish! 😀
I wish I would have read this post about 15 minutes ago as I just made oatmeal and of course boring me put on some agave syrup and cinnamon. This would have been really different.
haha cinnamon is lovely too, but I hope you give this a try soon!
I have never eaten anything like this ever.. However i am also drawn to savory flavours.. i think i would like this.. c
I don’t love overly sweet porridge in general, C, and this is not as intimidating a combination of flavors as it sounds. Very satisfying actually.
Ooh, great savory twist to porridge!
Thank you!
I often think about serving porridge in a starch savoury kind of way. I love porridge just made with milk and salt. Unfortunately it has too much of a breakfast stigma for me to serve it to anyone in a better form. Think I’ll be trying some for lunch though.
I feel like that stigma is changing a little bit, maybe they wouldn’t even recognize it this way :).
What an unusual combination. Or I guess I should qualify my response to say that I have never heard of savory oats. I’m intrigued. I eat some version of “porridge” almost every day and love it even for dinner at times! This really intrigues me! Debra
I am glad that it made you curious to explore this!
I think you’re on to something with a savory porridge for sure. I like the steel cut oats because they’d remind me a bit of wheat berries.. lovely idea!
Thank you! I agree, the texture of steel cut is just reminiscent of something earthy and wonderful.