Sorry about my 2 month absence.
It's been a busy time with work, travel, romance and a hectic home life.
They do say there's no rest for the wicked.

On my last weekend we took a trip to the local springs, via Da Nang City centre.
We were STARVING.
My better half suggested that we 'try something different' – always an exciting proposition.
On this occasion it referred to breakfast, as we normally enjoy a regular menage-a-trois of bun bo noodle soup, mi quang noodles, or the humble baguette stuffed streetside.
My Dad used to take a cheddar cheese sandwich on white sliced bread to work. Every day for years, and he never so much as picked up a machete and murdered people out of insane boredom.
I can't do it. I need some variety – and it was nice to be prodded into trying somewhere different.

We ended up at the congee shop, or whatever you want to call it.
Chao congee, or rice porridge is essentially the same basic 'recipe' in most Asian countries. A handful of steamed rice stewed with lots of water until it thickens into a gluey porridge, then garnish is added.
The main difference between the different Asian congee varieties lies in the type of rice used, and the type of condiments or garnish that you eat with it.

The display cabinet looked interesting, a variety of tasty looking morsels piled into glass bowls waiting for a little love.
We were there to provide that love.

Congee is a funny beast.
Basically a porridge made out of overcooked rice, it changes character with the culture or location.
Sometimes made with white rice, other times with additives, it can be anywhere from wonderful to frightening.

Many hotel buffets have a thick, pearly gelatinous paste that clings to a spoon like something out of a horror movie.
Other times it is a silky, pleasurable substance that nurtures and sustains – a blank canvas on which to throw a palette of flavours and textures.
Thais have both rice soup and rice porridge. Tasty too, with the garnish inside.
China, Japan, same same but different.

Many Asian countries insist on plain white rice porridge with all the garnishes on the side. Others mix it up.

Here in Vietnam we have both.
Da Nang is on the sea, so we have a lot of seafood. Eel porridge, Clam porridge, Seafood congee and congee made with live grouper are favourites for lunch and dinner, usually served as the last course in set menus.
Other popular flavours in Da Nang are frog porridge and duck congee.

In the morning we have this version – plain with a plate of four different garnishes to add in bit by bit as you eat. 

One's immediate reaction is to dump everything in and stir, holding the bowl with both hands and slurping greedily.

1. I'm not a morning person, and
2. I should never enter an eating establishment as hungry as I was on Tuesday

Apparently, local etiquette dictates that one should daintily drop small pieces of the garnish into the rice porridge, enjoying it in a civilised fashion one spoon at a time.
That works too.

Our plate of goodies included pickled vegetable, caramel pork, small crispy fish, and some shredded 'candy floss' style dried meat. Chicken or pork are popular done this way.

I was pretty happy with mine, but I got funny looks when I ordered seconds – "with ONLY the caramel pork. No, sorry, MORE caramel pork than that. LOTS more. Money is no object."

Above, the simple menu that allows service in about 3 minutes.
It was service with a smile too. Broad smiles as they watched me shovel the dishes into my gaping maw.

Below is the photo of the dish that claimed my tastebuds, the caramel pork

And time to go.
Not the worlds most amazing food. Not exactly gourmet. Maybe not even something an expat chef should bother with.
But at that time, in that place, hungry as we were, there was no better thing to eat.
It filled the perfect niche – and we'll be back.