Creamy Black Sesame Seed Hot Cereal! Three Ways!

It's a traditional Chinese hot cereal (or porridge) made of rice and roasted black sesame seeds, that can be spotted on a dim sum (點心) menu. If you need something warm in the morning other than coffee, this is a great choice especially if you use whole grains. Prepare it the night before and put in the refrigerator. Heat up in the microwave in the morning, dump it into the thermo and off you go.

Ingredients (yield one servings): 
Option 1:

• 1/4 to 1/3 cups of ground black sesame seeds
• 3/4 cups of water 
• 2 teaspoons of uncooked short grain white rice
• 1 to 2 tablespoons of honey or sugar
• pinch of salt

Option 2:

• 1/4 to 1/3 cups of ground black sesame seeds
• 1/2 cups of water 
• 30 grams (about 1/3 to 1/2 cup, loosely unpacked) of steamed short grain white rice
• 1 to 2 tablespoons of honey or sugar
• pinch of salt

Option 3:

• 25 grams of roasted black sesame seeds
• 3/4 cups of water 
• 8 grams of rice flour (about 1 plus teaspoons)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons of honey or sugar
• pinch of salt

Directions:
I use option#1 but I list the proportions in option#2 and #3, depending on what you can find in your pantry or neighborhood markets.

Option 1:

1. Rinse the raw rice and place that with water in a small sauce pan. Cook it for 20 min. When it's done, let it sit for 30 - 60 min and it will thicken up further.
2. Combine ground black sesame seed meal and rice porridge. Transfer the mixture to blender or food processor. Pulse 10 second for three to four rounds. It should be pretty smooth.
3. Place the mixture and salt in a small sauce pan on medium-low heat. Bring to a gentle simmer. Stir the honey or sugar in until dissolved. Let it cool for 10 min. You can also process this last stage cook in the microwave. Cook on high (1200W) for 1-2 minutes. Check the doneness. Repeat to cook at 30 second intervals if necessary.
4. Serve or keep refrigerated until ready to serve. 

Option 2:

1. Mix the cooked rice with water and cook for 20 min. Let it sit for 20-30 min to cool down and thicken up.
2. Combine ground black sesame seed meal and rice porridge. Transfer the mixture to blender or food processor. Pulse 10 second for three to four rounds. It should be pretty smooth.
3. Place the mixture and salt in a small sauce pan on medium-low heat. Bring to a gentle simmer. Stir the honey or sugar in until dissolved. Let it cool for 10 min. You can also process this last stage cook in the microwave. Cook on high (1200W) for 1-2 minutes. Check the doneness. Repeat to cook at 30 second intervals if necessary.
4. Serve or keep refrigerated until ready to serve. 

Option 3:

1. If you use whole black sesame seeds, grind them in coffee grinder for the best result. Or add the water and pulse in a blender. You can use ground black sesame seed meal as above and make it even easier.
2. Mix the rice flour with black sesame seed water mixture evenly. 
3. Place the mixture and salt in a small sauce pan on medium-low heat. Bring to a gentle simmer. Stir the honey or sugar in until dissolved. Let it cool for 10 min. You can also process this last stage cook in the microwave. Cook on high (1200W) for 2 minutes. Check the doneness. Repeat to cook at 1 minute intervals if necessary.
4. Serve or keep refrigerated until ready to serve. 

Note:

• If you use whole white sesame seeds, toasted it at 325F for 10 min. Put in blender with water and pulse until smooth. Pass through fine mesh strainer to remove bigger pieces before mixing with rice. 
• As a variation for option#3, you can just mix up everything and cook in a small saucepan for 20 min. Add sugar and salt. That's it. 
• If you are a member of our one-knife-one-pot club, use the ground black sesame seed powder and you don't have to blend-pulse it. It tastes just as good with the rice porridge. 
• Use whole grains to replace refined rice. I use brown rice, steel cut oatmeal, and other whole grains to replace white rice, topped off with chia seeds, cooked quinoa, amaranth or millet. Will provide my recipe later. 
• To cook quinoa, use one part quinoa and 2 parts of water. Cook 20 minutes, let it sit for 10 minutes covered in steam. Then fluff with fork. 
• Grains like quinoa, amaranth, millet, buckwheat, teff, bulgar, spelt, kamut or khorasan, sorghum have low GI, low or no glutton, higher level of protein and nutrients, and are more environment-friendly. In general they are easier to grow in tougher climate and soil conditions than rice or wheat, so they are better for you and your planet. I really have to tell you more about them later. 
• Instant package usually contains too much sugar and starchy thickening agent. As you can see here, it's not hard at all to make it at home.