Sesame oatmeal with soft-cooked egg and ginger

Despite sorting this in the breakfast section of my recipe page, I feel like this recipe is pretty universal regardless of when you eat it. Substitute the oatmeal for rice porridge and you would have an awesome alternative. You could even do this to plain white rice.

However when I woke up a couple mornings ago, I wanted something salty for breakfast, so I went this route.

Growing up, my mom would always add Maggi, a seasoning sauce similar to soy sauce, to her oatmeal. The sauce added a great umami flavor to a relatively bland breakfast staple. Unfortunately, I did not have any of this on hand. What I did have was dark soy sauce and sesame oil – so I thought, “Why don’t I give these a shot?”

Instead of finishing everything with a dash or two of soy sauce, I continued and went all the way, adding a fried egg and some vegetables. When I finished plating this, the recipe kind of reminded me of bi bim bap, a korean mixed rice dish.

Ingredients:

• 1 packet of instant oatmeal (about 1/4 cup)
• 1/4 cup water (for a twist, use leftover green or roasted barley tea instead)
• 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 egg, fried with a runny yolk
• julienned carrots, sautéed
• chopped green onion
• pepper to taste

Step 1: Cook the oatmeal with your water or tea. You can do this in the microwave or on the stove-top. However cook until the oatmeal is thick, you cannot have runny oatmeal as you will cut it with more liquid. Mix in 1 teaspoon of soy sauce.

Step 2: Pour oatmeal into a bowl. (Or keep in your cooking dish if you cooked in the microwave.) Top with the egg and carrots.

Step 3: Drizzle with remaining oil and sauce. Sprinkle with green onion and pepper.