Kitchen Sink Vegan Khao Tom

First, hush, you people who know how to be smooth enough in real life to build relationships face to face. Second, this is the story of me meeting someone from the internet on another continent and the dinner they cooked for me. Third, it’s not really story because I will tell you in two sentences what happened (and it isn’t exciting. At all).

A few years ago I visited Singapore to meet some internet friends, one of whom was Thai (well, he still is) and for dinner he made khao tom. That was the first time I tried this Thai savoury rice porridge, and it left enough of an impression for me to continue cooking it for myself at home.

Two sentences. The end.

Khao tom is made with leftover rice, but that description makes this porridge-y soup sound like a second-rate meal. Like it’s merely a way to use up scraps you would otherwise toss in the bin. Erase that characterisation immediately, because this isn’t a dish you throw together to avoid guilt in throwing food away; it’s a warming bowl for which you will make extra rice the night before in order to have some left by the time breakfast comes around. Try khao tom once and crave it forever.

Like many Thai single-plate dishes, this one begs for condiments and toppings. In my experience preserved turnip and Chinese celery are almost mandatory. Other fresh herbs such as spring onion, coriander (especially if it’s Thai parsley) are recommended.

I consider the fried garlic as also indispensable because of both the caramelised pungent flavour it adds as well as the richness the oil adds to the texture of the soup. Further, I will always add a generous drizzle of chilli vinegar with plenty of chilli slices included, and maybe a sprinkling of white sugar for balance.