Plain rice gruel with a Chaozhou pickle spread

Wash the rice.

Bring 1.6 litres of water to a boil and add the rice together with a spoon.

Stir the rice as it cooks so the exterior of the grains breaks down slightly and the result is milkier; the loose spoon does some of that jostling.

Bring to a heavy simmer with a big crack left in the lid, stirring once every four to five minutes and watching that it does not overflow.

If it overflows, open it up, stir vigorously and put it back down.

Simmer 20 minutes in all, then heat off.

Eat hot in winter, or set it aside to cool to room temperature for a hot day.

Serve alongside a spread of fried peanuts, Chinese olive, ganlan cai, preserved radish, furu and salted eggs.

Take the olive vegetable in one hand and gulp the gruel immediately after, a one-two punch that avoids polluting the gruel.

Variation: mince sweet potato small and boil it with a little rice, which was what was done when rice was scarce.