Porridge

Porridge is a type of semi-solid food made by soaking, poaching or boiling, in milk or water, ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants, typically grain. Gruel is a thinner version of porridge, and congee is a savoury variation of porridge of Asian origin.

Porridge is often cooked with added flavourings such as sugar, honey, fruits or syrup to sweeten the cereal, or it can be mixed with spices, meat or vegetables to make a savoury dish. It is usually served hot in a bowl or a pot, depending on its consistency. Oat porridge, known as oatmeal in North America, is one of the most common types; while rice porridge is more common in Asia.

Type of grains

The term "porridge" is used in British English (Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand) specifically for oatmeal. This is a hot mixture of oatmeal or oats slowly cooked with water or milk. It is typically eaten for breakfast by itself or with other ingredients, typically salt, sugar, honey, fruit, milk, cream, or butter.

Other grains used for porridge include rice, wheat (cracked wheat porridge is also known as frumenty), barley, corn, triticale and buckwheat. Many types of porridge have their own names, such as congee (rice), polenta (maize) and poi (from taro).

Conventional uses

Porridge can be eaten for any meal of the day. Porridge is eaten in many cultures around the world as a common snack or as breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Nutrition

Unenriched porridge (as oatmeal), cooked by boiling or microwave, is 84% water, and contains 12% carbohydrates, including 2% dietary fiber and 2% each of protein and fat (table). In a 100 g (3.5 oz) reference amount, cooked porridge provides 71 calories and contains 26% of the Daily Value (DV) for manganese, with no other micronutrients in significant content (table).