I love the chewy texture of steel cut oatmeal. It’s hard to go back to regular oatmeal once you’ve tried steel cut.
What’s the difference? Well, both are oats. They differ in the way that they are processed. The first step is the same. Wheat berries are cleaned and their hulls removed, leaving the inside kernels (called the groat). For steel cut oatmeal, these groats are then cut into small pieces with steel blades. For regular oatmeal, the groats are steamed, flattened, and then dried.
Because steel cut oats are much thicker than rolled oats, steel cut oatmeal takes A LOT longer to cook. On the stove top, steel cut oats take about 30 minutes, although you can buy “quick” steel cut oats that cook in about 6 minutes.
I decided to do a twist on traditional oatmeal by making mine savory and Asian style. I find this dish comforting and very satisfying in the morning. It reminds me of Chinese congee but healthier!
Steel Cut Oatmeal
total time – 40 minutes (note: you can prepare the oatmeal the night before)
serves 4
1 cup steel cut Irish oatmeal
4 cups of water
soy sauce
scallions
sesame oil
red pepper flakes (optional)
furikake (optional)
Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Add 1 cup of oatmeal and stir well. When the oatmeal begins to thicken (~ 5 minutes), reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. You can refrigerate the oatmeal and heat up small amounts every morning for breakfast.
Now, flavor with your favorite condiments. I like to mix it with a small amount soy sauce and sesame oil. I then garnish with scallions, a bit of red pepper flakes, and a healthy dose of Japanese furikake (Japanese seasoning comprising dried seaweed, dried fish flakes, salt, spices, etc). Of course, you can go crazy and add all the typical Chinese breakfast fixings, like shredded pork sung
Enjoy!
All Rights Reserved
What a neat idea! I’m always looking for new ways to incorporate oatmeal into my diet! Happy Valentine’s Day and Happy New Year!
Very interesting! I would never think to make a savory oatmeal but his looks great. Especially love the addition of furikake!
Yum, I think I would like this!
This is genius! It’s kind of like a very thick version of jook or rice porridge. A really nice alternative to the usual sugary fare, especially on a cold winter morning.
i love the twist that you made here… this is a healthy alternative for congee!
sounds yum!
Have you tried with the not-steel cut oatmeal? I’m lazy enough that congee doesn’t make it to the table very frequently, but w/the quicker oats this may assuage the desire to eat “asian grits”
Looks delicious! Can’t wait to try this.
(Wheatberries and oat groats are different things though, aren’t they? I often serve oats to non-wheat-eating friends.)
m – yes, I typically do it with non-steel cut, actually. You can check out my oatmeal jook post!
Teresa – yes they are different! Wheat berries come from wheat whereas oat groats come from oats. Two different grains. 🙂
Awesome! I tried something like this on my oat blog, post going up next week! http://oatallyawesome.tumblr.com/
In love with this savory twist..linking back to it tomorrow 🙂
My Taiwanese girlfriend says they did it this way:
Stir fry chopped onions, veggies your choice of meats,seasonings, etc. Then add water and bring it to a boil. Then add the oatmeal and cook til creamy.