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It's just like how my college roommate would get grits from the dining hall for breakfast, and put soy sauce and a fried egg on top. It was a weird marriage of the South and Asia.

Speaking of congee, I think I will make some!

No no no. That is just not anything I would eat.

You can totally cook oatmeal so it tastes very very similar to plain congee. And then you can add whatever you add to congee and it's a savory dish.

Have I eaten oatmeal with pork floss before? Yup.

I actually don't like oatmeal and have been trying to get myself to eat it for years-- this sounds GREAT, especially with the fried egg. I'd even add a little sesame oil/chili oil. The microwave option makes it perfect for the office!

lol I've been doing that for a long time with cream o' wheat. I'll have to try it with oatmeal, although I have made oatmeal savory, just not with soy and scallions. heck it tastes alot better than it does with sweet stuff.

Oats are just like any other grain (braley, quinoa, rice, etc.). I made some oat "risotto" last spring with shrimp, asparagus and pecorino...tasty!

I agree with the all in our heads statement. I'm going to try it.

I often eat oatmeal cooked in milk and seasoned with kosher salt. It is simple, but satisfying. The nuttiness of the steel cut oats (McCann's really is tastier than other brands in my experience) is accentuated this way. Overall, I probably prefer it slightly sweet, but it is very good either way.

This recipe made me wonder why I only associated oatmeal with sweet things; it tastes awesome savory! It doesn't really taste like oatmeal, for better or worse (better for me, because I'm not a big oatmeal fan). I prefer the sticky rice-like consistency over a congee consistency.

I've read that any grain can be cooked and eaten like congee. Some day I might try this, but I'm not a big oats fan. Someday when I'm feeling adventurous, I'm going to try this oatmeal soup

Why?
Why? Why? Why?

Mind you, not why would SE cover this? It was pretty funny and I second the business card idea!
The bigger WHY?

It's about time! My mom used to make savory oatmeal with tender pork tenderloin strips. It was always a good way to start a cold Minnesota morning. For a long time, I thought it was normal to eat savory oatmeal (with pork). I don't know if I would like the oatmeal with soy sauce and green onions alone. Growing up, I had a difficult time eating sweet oatmeal. Maple brown sugar... Blah!

wow, why did not I think of this? It seems like a great idea!!!

I like to cook steal cut oats risotto-style, it is delicious and healthful. I assume you could do this with any liquid but i am particularly fond of the savory variations.

Well darn, the link didn't work. Here's the link to the oatmeal soup:
http://strongwomen.com/recipes/recipe031_oatmealsoup.htm

Good stuff, but a common breakfast at our house.
This a.m. I had 10 Grain Cereal with a little sesame oil and Hoisin Sauce. I won't tell you what else I had on it. :-)

Not really that bizarre when you think about it. I mentioned rice gruel in the SE post regarding gruel recently. Unadorned oatmeal/grain isn't particularly "sweet" or "savory." I hate brown rice, so I'll have to try this for myself to see if I would eat it again. I'd just ditch the scallions, add mustard cabbage and bamboo shoots, and dashi instead of shoyu.

I would add a poached egg.

Gonna try this recipe - except I'm gonna cook it up and add more water and mix it it with preserved eggs and salt instead od soy sauce. Yes - Im congee on this

I am laughing that this is so shocking to people. I used to always salt my oatmeal, since I prefer salty to sweet, and one day, as a child I complained to my mother that we were out of salt and she being a resourceful person immediately said "add soy sauce, it is basically just salt" and it was delicious. And I've eaten it and cream of wheat and any number of other things that way since!

for those of you on the fence, simply try plain oatmeal with some salt. it's amazing

It looks just slightly more appetizing than some of the stuff Andrew Zimmern eats.

Interesting. A couple of months ago, I had the same "brilliant" idea to make savory oatmeal when I was starving and unwilling to spend money. I used bacon salt.

The result was repulsive. So this is making me shudder right now. D:

jacques pepin actually has a recipe for oatmeal soup with bacon and leeks in his autobiography, "The Apprentice." it's delicious.

it depends what you like, i love savory food for breakfast... its the thought of chocolate (pancakes, muffins) in my day-starter that makes me gag.

... I really don't understand the revulsion here. I've been making savory oatmeal (peppers and onions are my go-tos) for years. It's a grain like any other grain, folks. Think of it as oat grits if it weirds you out (get it, oat grits / oat groats.. *sigh*).

omg. my mom used to make this for me when i was growing up. but people always thought i was weird whenever i would mention 'soy sauce' and 'oatmeal' in the same sentence.

thank you mark bittman.

I hit upon savory oatmeal during my bento days (back when I had a job), when I was struggling with making onigiri; I invented "oat-nigiri" and ate them for breakfast. It involves making oatmeal thick enough to hold a spoon upright, and then squeezing it in those cute little molds. I did eat it savory sometimes, with a nice chiffonade of greens to go with those green onions. It's even better if you start by fermenting steel-cut oats overnight with a little yoghurt first; makes 'em tart.

I just discovered Bittman's How to Cook Everything, and I've been cooking out of it every night for a couple of weeks. I just bought my own copy. I'm figuring out what to serve with his Radish Salsa tomorrow. Carnitas, rice and leftover veg., I think.

Here in Hong Kong congee is a local favorite - so much so that you really must be careful when you buy oatmeal at the supermarket... you see, Quaker Oats offers two special savory flavors of instant oatmeal packs here - Chicken & Mushroom and... Anchovy!! No kidding.

Try the "Oatmeal and Tomato Soup" recipe at allrecipes.com. It's a a family favorite (Mom, Dad, and four teens). Not so pretty to look at, but very savory and delicious. Warming, filling, and comforting, not to mention cheap, easy and healthy.

My wife is Japanese and never eats her oatmeal , farina , grits , rice [ of course ] or any other cooked cereal sweetened it's always savory no matter what time of day or night she has even got me in the program but having lived in S.E. Asia in rural communities my tastes are different now from how I was raised here in the U.S.
Just a small amount of various veggies mixed in can create a satisfying meal that is filling and healthy .
I bet a fluffy oatmeal would put a tasty spin on Nasi Campor in place of the rice , I'm gonna give it a go . I've never tried to fry oatmeal like the fried rice in Nasi Goreng wonder if it would hold up to the heat without mushing out ?

Anyone who thinks Oalmeal is "neutral has had too many bowls of old, packaged oatmeal. Try Anson Mills; it'll open your eyes.

I don't know why people freak out about savory oatmeal... or savory breakfast, period. I hate sweet breakfasts, and have taken to making my steel-cut oats with salt and pepper. Delicious!

I am down with the flu and yesterday wanted something warm but the idea of sweet put my stomach into twitters. I remembered this and tried it, with the addition of a few small cubes of a very savory pork and beef summer sausage for a little extra porky savory goodness and some frozen leeks.

It was delicious. I would eat it again, maybe with a few drops of sesame oil and a few sprigs of cilantro. Yum.

i've been doing this for years, courtesy of my Chinese dad. But, I would suggest making the oatmeal with chicken stock, not water, and garnishing with sesame oil, not soy. I'll usually eat it with classic chinese shihfan garnishes: shredded pork, spicy bamboo shoots, gluten with peanuts, etc. a nice whole-grain adaptation of a traditional chinese breakfast!

I like to use Cream of Wheat to make a savory South Indian breakfast dish called Upma. Heat oil and pop mustard seeds. Add onions, chopped chilis, ginger, raw peanuts, salt. Add water and bring to a boil, then add the cream of wheat, slowly stirring until desired consistency (You can follow the measures of water to cereal listed on the box.) Add a dollop of butter and a squeeze of lime and stir in. Can eat with Indian pickles like mango pickle or my new favorite--garlic pickle.

YUM.

I wanted to ask Bittman and all of you who are doing this whether you prefer oatmeal to rice and, if so, why? Or do you eat savory oatmeal sometimes and other times rice congee? We returned from our first trip to Southeast Asia absolutely hooked on congee for breakfast, and regularly eat make the rice porridge with some combination of scallions, bits of meat, dried fish, dried shrimp, red pepper flakes, chili oil, and whatever else occurs to us. Are we missing something by eating rice rather than oats? Why mess with success? Are people like Bittman doing it for the taste, superior health benefits to rice, or what?

I made a version of this recipe using some leftover chinese "brown sauce" which had scallions in it, and was somewhat like soy sauce thickened by cornstarch but not too salty, I added a bit of butter and some garlic powder and it was delicious!!!

Definitely going to make this a lot more often, hopefully with the scallions though, and seriously considering making a pork roast just to add that wonderful meat to it.

I prepared oatmeal as directed (maybe a bit more salt) and served with tomato and avocado. A dash of hot sauce makde it super yum. Savory oatmeal has made me a happy girl.

Oh my goodness. All I can say is...I can't believe I never thought of making oatmeal savory! I mean, I like it with fruit and such, but...I also know that it's good with even just a little butter. My brain never got past the "put more than butter on it" line. I can't wait to try some of the ideas you all have thrown out there. And I'm going to search for more savory recipes with oatmeal!!!

I just tried this for the first time but I made it with chicken broth, minced onions, black beans and topped with sour cream....mmmm mmmm good