Asian Breakfast Cereals: Eating Outside of the Box

Breakfast cereal in the United States means something crunchy scooped out of a box from the supermarket, a bowl of granola or perhaps oatmeal, cooked in haste in the microwave.

In Asia it’s a different story. Breakfast cereal could be rice soup in Thailand, wheat porridge studded with nuts, curry leaves and chiles in India, a semolina cake soft with bananas in Myanmar, a ball of rice stuffed with coconut and brown sugar in Sri Lanka or a powdery mixture of roasted barley and dried fruits in Nepal.

Interesting traditions surround these foods. Thai khao tom--rice soup embellished with meat, hot chiles and other toppings--is eaten at either end of the day, says Vibul Wonprasat of Venice, artistic director of the annual Thai Cultural Day in Los Angeles. “Thais believe liquid is easier to digest in the morning, before working,” he explains. “Lunch is a heavier meal. When working late at night, Thais like to have liquid food before going to bed.”

Wonprasat, an artist, takes special pains in preparing khao tom. He cooks the rice in bottled water to simulate the rainwater that Thais collect in huge urns for kitchen use. Broken jasmine rice, available in some Asian markets, softens and breaks down into a creamy puree ideal for porridge. The label may say “broken rice” or specify jasmine broken rice and may also include the Vietnamese name for the broken grains, cao thom.

Garlic-flavored pork meatballs garnish Wonprasat’s soup, along with cilantro and a dash of black pepper. Side dishes of fish sauce and sliced chiles soaked in vinegar provide additional seasoning.

In south India, one might breakfast on upma, a wheat porridge that includes vegetables, chiles, black mustard seeds and curry leaves. Vasanti Jayaswal of West Los Angeles makes upma in the style of Bangalore, although she is from Trivandrum in the state of Kerala. To give a nutty flavor, she includes a small amount of lightly browned Indian dal, or roasted cashews can also be added.

Leilei Thein of San Diego calls her Burmese banana cake banana shwe gye. In Burmese, “shwe gye” means semolina, which she uses instead of regular flour. Made with coconut milk as well as evaporated milk, the sweet cake is as likely to show up at breakfast as at other times of day. “In Myanmar, no distinction is made between what is served for breakfast or for afternoon tea,” explains Thein, who grew up in Mawlamyine (formerly Moulmein) in southern Myanmar. “We eat a lot of snack food at breakfast time too.”

Bhante Walpola Piyananda, abbot of the Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Vihara in Los Angeles, tells a legend about the origin of Sri Lankan kiribath (milk rice), which is rice cooked with coconut milk and salt. “This is sacred food to Sri Lankans, as well as delicious,” he says. “It is the last food that the Buddha ate before being enlightened. A servant girl saw him meditating and perceived him as god. She ran to her mistress, who then prepared kiribath for the holy person and brought it to the Buddha. He was enlightened one day later.”

For auspicious days, kiribath rice would be served for breakfast, spread flat on a platter and accompanied by jaggery (brown sugar), treacle and bananas.

In a variation, the rice is molded in small cups and then filled with coconut in jaggery syrup. This recipe, called coppa kiribath, appears in the “Ceylon Daily News Cookery Book,” which has been continuously reprinted since it was first published in Colombo in 1929.

Barley sattu could be called Nepali granola, the way Narayan Somname prepares it. Somname, a Nepali chef working in Japan, sent the recipe to a friend, Bijay Niraula, who is president of the Himalayan Arts and Cultural Council of the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena. Somname mixes powdered hulled barley grains with raisins, cashews, coconut, sugar candy, cinnamon and cardamom.

“Sattu can be eaten with both cold or hot milk,” Niraula says. “It can also be mixed with plain yogurt.” Powdery rather than crunchy, sattu is handy food for travelers and campers. The labor involved in pounding the grains to a powder, as is done in Nepal, would discourage most cereal lovers from trying this dish. However, the recipe works well with barley flour from a natural foods store.

Adding raisins, nuts, coconut and spices also breaks with Nepali tradition. There, sattu is frugal food, eaten plain or mixed with water. But Somname’s fancy version is a lot more palatable and just might find a place on an American breakfast table.

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Vibul Wonprasat’s Khao Tom

Active Work Time: 15 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 1 hour

Although this rice soup is popular for breakfast, it makes a good one-dish meal any time.

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1 or 2 serrano chiles, sliced

1/2 pound lean pork

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 teaspoons fish sauce, plus more for serving

1 cup broken jasmine rice

Water

Salt

1 tablespoon oil

Cilantro leaves, minced

Pepper

Combine the rice vinegar with the sliced chiles and let stand so the chiles become pickled.

Meanwhile, place the pork on a cutting board. Top with the garlic and the fish sauce. With a Chinese cleaver or other sharp, heavy knife, chop the meat and garlic together until finely minced, almost pasty.

Place the rice in a large saucepan, add 3 cups of water and cook over low heat until creamy, about 30 to 35 minutes. The rice will soften and break down, like a puree. Keep adding water as needed so that it stays fluid like a soup. Stir in 1 teaspoon of salt. Keep warm over low heat.

Shape the pork mixture into small patties 2 to 3 inches wide. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Fry the patties in batches until browned and cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes a side.

Ladle the rice soup into 4 large soup bowls. Place 3 or 4 pork patties in each bowl. Garnish with cilantro and pepper to taste.

Serve with fish sauce and vinegar-chile mixture, letting diners season their own soup.

4 servings. Each serving: 194 calories; 314 mg sodium; 47 mg cholesterol; 10 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 11 grams carbohydrates; 15 grams protein; 0.59 gram fiber.

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Nepali Barley Cereal (Barley Sattu)

Active Work and Total Preparation Time: 20 minutes * Vegetarian

Dry and powdery, sattu is handy for campers. Add liquid when eating to turn it into a moist cereal. Barley flour is available in health food stores. You can use packaged flaked coconut, if desired.

1/2 pound barley flour

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup raw cashews, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup shredded fresh coconut

1/4 cup sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

Dry-roast the barley flour in a heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring, until lightly toasted but not browned, 10 minutes. Cut the raisins, cashews and coconut into tiny pieces the size of a rice grain. Combine the raisins, cashews, coconut, sugar, cinnamon and cardamom with the toasted barley flour. Serve this in bowls as a cereal. To eat, add cold or hot milk, or mix it with plain yogurt.

8 to 10 servings. Each of 10 servings: 140 calories; 3 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 3 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 28 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams protein; 3.67 grams fiber.

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Banana Shwe Gye Cake

Active Work Time: 20 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 1 1/2 hours, plus 8 hours standing

Leilei Thein of San Diego explains that the cake will be moist, not fluffy. It should stand overnight, until cold, to firm up before cutting. “Shwe gye” is Burmese for semolina. Semolina can be found at specialty markets and health food shops.

Nonstick cooking spray

2 cups semolina

2 (131/2-ounce) cans coconut milk

Water

1 (5-ounce) can evaporated milk

2 eggs, beaten

11/2 cups sugar

4 ripe, soft bananas, mashed

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9-inch square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and set the pan on a foil-lined baking sheet.

Roast the semolina in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring, until the color changes, 10 minutes. Combine the coconut milk, enough water to fill 1 coconut milk can, evaporated milk, eggs, sugar and bananas in a large pot and heat over medium heat until barely simmering, about 4 to 5 minutes. Slowly pour in the roasted semolina, mixing well to avoid lumps. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick. Addthe butter or margarine while stirring.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top is evenly golden brown, 1 hour. Sprinkle the top with the poppy seeds. Place under the broiler and broil 2 minutes. Cool to room temperature, cover and let stand overnight. Cut into diamonds to serve. Refrigerate any leftovers. Reheat to room temperature before serving.

6 to 10 servings. Each of 10 servings: 609 calories; 315 mg sodium; 95 mg cholesterol; 38 grams fat; 27 grams saturated fat; 64 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams protein; 1.50 grams fiber.

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Vasanti’s Upma

Active Work and Total Preparation Time: 20 minutes * Vegetarian

Vasanti Jayaswal advises roasting the cream of wheat first because this reduces lumping. Some cooks like to add dried red chiles. If using these, add them along with the curry leaves. Brown mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal and curry leaves are available at Indian markets.

3/4 cup quick-cooking cream of wheat

1 1/2 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds

1 teaspoon split peeled urad dal

1 teaspoon split chana dal

10 to 12 curry leaves

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/4-inch piece ginger root, minced

Chopped or sliced serrano chile, to taste

1/4 cup frozen mixed vegetables, thawed, or diced cooked fresh vegetables

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

2 cups water, divided

Cilantro leaves

10 to 15 split cashews, lightly roasted, optional

Roast the cream of wheat in a heavy skillet over medium heat until light brown, stirring, about 8 to 10 minutes.Set aside.

Heat the oil in a wok over medium-high heat.Add the mustard seeds and fry until they pop, about 10 seconds. Add the urad and chana dals and cook until lightly browned, 1 minute. Add the curry leaves and stir until fragrant, then add the onion, ginger, chile and vegetables. Cook until the onion is translucent, 2 to 3 minutes.Add the salt and 1 cup of water and boil 30 seconds. Add the remaining 1 cup of water and lower the heat to a simmer. Pour in the cream of wheat slowly to prevent lumping. Cook and stir constantly until done, 2 to 3 minutes. If too dry, add more water carefully. Do not let the water level come above the cream of wheat. The mixture should not be soggy.

Remove from the heat, cover and let stand 5 minutes. Serve garnished with cilantro leaves and nuts, if desired.

2 servings. Each serving: 372 calories; 1,121 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 12 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 57 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams protein; 3.98 grams fiber.