A year ago, while suffering through a bout of the flu, my first illness in Japan, I wondered what on earth I was supposed to eat. Pho and tom yum gai, my usual cold remedies, were nowhere to be found -- and simple chicken soup seemed to only be available in unappealing cubes. Luckily, a more informed friend gave me a boil-and-serve package of okayu, rice porridge. Mixed with kimchee, it sustained me for the next four sinus-clogged days and has continued to be the only substantial thing I eat when the Japanese cold season knocks me flat. (Which is often. Now, in fact. I credit it to the irritating habit Japanese people have of not staying home sick ever, unless they are on their deathbeds, maybe, but until then breathing their germy-germs all over me.)
When you are sick, there is nothing simpler than popping a foil bag of okayu in boiling water for a few minutes, but making it from scratch is nearly as easy -- just cook the washed rice grains with three times as much water as usual. Making it with leftover rice is even easier and probably the most common method. In Washoku, Elizabeth Andoh credits the association of okayu and breakfast to the overworked Japanese salaryman. Most wives end up with an uneaten portion of rice from the night before, prepared for husbands who didn't return home until long after dinnertime, so they often use it to make okayu. Topped with an umeboshi, some chopped herbs or cooked greens, it makes a savory and comforting breakfast for two.
When I ate okayu for the first time during that first Japanese flu, I suddenly remembered I used to eat the Thai version of okayu every Sunday afternoon with my dad when I was small. Using the leftover portions of rice lurking in the fridge, he would boil up a big pot of what I called Soupy Rice. Sprinkled with tiny dried, salted shrimp and chunks of pickled cabbage from a can, it was an addictive mix of the bland and the aggressively salty. I was especially partial to the pickled cabbage, excessive consumption of which, my mom seemed convinced, would strike me down with a heart attack at the tender age of seven. Thus I was always left wanting more.
This remembered obsession is undoubtedly why I thought of topping my okayu with a big helping of kimchee, plus an extra serving on the side. With no mom for thousands of miles around, I usually end up eating about four times as much kimchee as what you see in the picture. I have a theory based on absolutely nothing but my penchant for pickled cabbage products that the super-helping of chili and garlic keeps the germs at bay. At the very least, I'm keeping all the people at bay and thereby breaking the cycle of illness. I like to consider it a sort of public service.
Leftover Rice Okayu
Serves 2
1 cup cooked rice
2 cups water or stock
1/8 teaspoon salt
toppings (kimchee, umeboshi, chopped fresh herbs, nori, etc.)
In a pot, heat rice and one cup water or stock over low heat, stirring to break up any lumps. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the water looks starchy and the grains begin to lose their shape. Add the salt and remaining water and simmer for 2 more minutes, or until the desired consistency.
Serve in big bowls, topped with whatever you like. Eat with a spoon and chopsticks.
I can't say the 'soupy rice' looks delicious, but if it helps with the flu/cold, it's a good thing.
And it probably tastes much better than it looks. :)