Glorious Groatmeal

Anyone who knows me, knows that I eat oatmeal for breakfast. It is a staple in the north Idahoan diet.

Last fall, while we were in the states, my friend Justin asked if I had ever tried steel-cut oats (aka. Scottish oats). When I replied in the negative, he offered to give me some of his. Since I was traveling around Texas at the time, I declined.

Near the end of our visit to the states, by the time we had made it to California, I was pretty tired of traveling.  During a trip to Trader Joe’s, I ran across a carton of steel-cut oats.

The next morning, I cooked some and was quite surprised at how good they were. Redundantly speaking, they were deliciously tasty! Steel-cut oats have an almost nutty flavor with a wonderful texture.  My morning staple had officially changed. I was no longer tired from traveling. I was complete revitalized.  Yes, oatmeal is this exciting.

I bought two cartons for the remainder of our time in the states. Yes, I lugged them on airplanes and drove them around in a Subaru.

When we made it back to Yichang, I started to have steel-cut oat withdrawals. I searched taobao.com. I searched export stores in China. There were none to be found.

Alas! and did my stomach plead, and did my palate cry?

One day, I was roaming the grain bin section of a grocery store when I spied what looked like whole oats. A little check on my handy dictionary confirmed that they were indeed whole grain oats! Otherwise known as ‘groats’.

I bought some and began the process of recreating my steel-cut oat breakfast. One try after another (with a knife and with a blender) confirmed that there was no easy way  for me to “cut” my own oats.

With a bit more research, I found that cutting them was not necessary. You could use the groats fully intact and cook a mean breakfast. Not only that, but the rice cooker could be used to make it even more convenient. Just wake up and flip the switch!

Without further adieu…Rice Cooker Groatmeal!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup groats (‘whole grain oats’) 燕麦仁
• 3 cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. In the rice cooker, mix the cinnamon and salt into the groats before adding water.
2. Let soak overnight.  I have made it the morning of with no problems, but it does take longer to cook.
3. Set the rice cooker on porridge mode (粥) and start. It should take less than an hour to cook. (1.5 hours if you didn’t soak overnight.)
4. Add raisins, yogurt, honey, brown sugar or whatever you like! Grunt a couple times like a mountain man and enjoy!

Print Friendly