Vietnamese-Style Salmon Porridge Recipe

Prepare the Salmon

Rinse the salmon and place it in a bowl. To remove the fishy smell, gently rub the salmon with white wine, crushed ginger, and a little coarse salt for about 2 minutes. Then rinse the salmon and let it drain before steaming.

Add water to a pot, filling it halfway to the steaming rack. When the water boils, place the salmon along with 5-6 slices of fresh ginger into the steaming rack. Cover the pot and steam the salmon over low heat for about 8-10 minutes, until it is just cooked and still retains its sweetness.

Instead of steaming, you can also grill or pan-sear the salmon.

Once the salmon is cooked, transfer it to a plate or bowl, and use chopsticks to flake it into small pieces. Let it cool.

When steaming, keep the skin on to help the salmon hold its shape. However, after steaming, you can remove the skin to further reduce the fishy smell.

Prepare the Other Ingredients

Rinse the sticky rice and white rice thoroughly.

Peel and clean the pumpkin, cut it in half, remove the seeds, and dice it into small cubes.

Peel the carrot, wash it, and dice it into small cubes like the pumpkin.

Peel and finely chop the shallots.

Pick and clean the green onions, then roughly chop them.

If making porridge for a child, you can omit the green onions or use a small amount. For adults, adding a little dill and Vietnamese coriander enhances the flavor of the salmon porridge and also helps to mask the fishy smell.

Stir-Fry the Salmon

To ensure the salmon porridge doesn't have a fishy smell, lightly stir-fry the salmon.

Add enough oil to coat the pan, heat it, then sauté the chopped shallots until fragrant. Next, add the salmon and stir-fry over low heat. Stir-fry for about 1 minute, then remove half of the salmon to use in the porridge. Continue stir-frying the remaining salmon until it becomes dry and flaky, similar to shredded fish.

Cook the Salmon Porridge

Add water to a pot to cook the porridge. For the above ingredients, use about 4.5 - 5 liters of water to ensure the porridge isn't too thick or too thin.

When cooking porridge, you can follow the ratio of 1kg rice to 14-15 liters of water to avoid adding water too many times during cooking.

When the water boils, add the rice. Let it boil over high heat for about 3-5 minutes, then reduce the heat to maintain a gentle boil. This allows the rice to continuously move without clumping or sticking to the bottom of the pot. This also reduces the need to stir frequently, which can cause the rice to break apart.

On average, it takes about 40 minutes for the rice to fully expand and become tender. At this point, add the carrots and pumpkin, and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Season the porridge to taste with MSG, salt, and a bit of fish sauce to enhance the flavor. After 5 minutes, add the green onions and cook for another minute before turning off the heat. Ladle the porridge into bowls and you can sprinkle some shredded salmon on top.

For adults, you can add a bit of chili powder and pepper to make the salmon porridge even more flavorful.