The Hearty Bowl

Katy stirred the pot of porridge that was simmering on the stove. She has to keep stirring to make sure the bottom doesn't burn. Her grandma taught her that. As a child, when Katy observed her grandma cooking, it was one of the things she noticed. Her grandma would patiently stir ever so often even though the porridge has come to a slow boil. "This way, the porridge will be silky and soft", she said to her.

Remembering the way her grandma cooked it, Katy used chicken stock and added some sliced chicken, ginger, dried scallop and dried oyster into the porridge while it cooked. After about thirty minutes, Katy scooped a little into a spoon and started blowing it to cool it down before tasting it. "Just a little bit more salt and a bit more of boiling and stirring", she thought.

Once the porridge was cooked to the softness and taste that Katy remembered, she turned off the stove and took a cute bowl that her mother liked. She scooped the porridge into the bowl, added some chopped scallion, sprinkled some fried shallots and drizzled some sesame seed oil. Katy carefully closed the pot and brought the bowl of porridge to her mother who was resting on the sofa.

"Ma, it's time for lunch," Katy said softly, placing the bowl of porridge on the small table next to her mother. Her mother rose slowly, a gentle smile spreading across her face. Katy scooped a spoonful of porridge, blew lightly to cool it, and held it out to her carefully.

Photo by ivi nnnnnn on Pexels.

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