black sesame quinoa porridge for breakfast, or, alternatively, a quinoa pudding dessert

Quick black sesame quinoa porridge for breakfast.

I'm new to the quinoa porridge concept, at least in practice - I mean, I'd heard of it, but never made it myself, until recently. This packet of organic quinoa flakes my sister gave me had been sitting unassumingly in the cupboard, and all this time I haven't really been giving it much attention, other than sneakily adding it to my savoury rice porridge (i.e. congee) from time to time.

Finally, I decided to make a proper quinoa porridge with it. After all, there were basic instructions at the back of the packet, and it looked incredibly easy. I didn't end up following those instructions, but I did successfully create a quinoa porridge in the end with the quinoa flakes. One with lashings of black sesame powder that my parents bought for me, plus ginger, rice syrup, coconut milk, and a pinch of salt. It was not bad, actually. Be warned, though - this does leave you with black sesame residues on your teeth, so brush after eating!

Organic quinoa flakes.

quick black sesame quinoa porridge with ginger and coconut milk
(serves 1)

1/3 cup quinoa flakes
1/4 cup ground black sesame / black sesame powder
1/4 teaspoon finely grated ginger
1 cup water
3 tablespoons coconut milk
1 pinch salt
rice syrup, to taste (may be substituted with other sweeteners e.g. maple syrup, sugar, etc.)

Place quinoa flakes, black sesame powder, ginger and water into a saucepan and bring to boil, then turn down the heat slightly and let it bubble merrily till the quinoa flakes have absorbed the water and the mixture has thickened - this will take around 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix coconut milk with a pinch of salt.
When the gingered black sesame quinoa porridge is done, add rice syrup to taste. (I used 2 tablespoons - rice syrup is only about half as sweet as sugar, and this was a good amount for me to keep this dish just sweet enough while still being relatively healthy. You may use whatever sweetener you have on hand, to your liking.)
Scoop the quinoa porridge into a serving bowl, then ladle the lightly salted coconut milk over it.

I had this warm, but I suspect it would also be pleasant if chilled and served cold. Moreover, I would venture that one could turn this into sort of a quinoa pudding dessert simply by making it sweeter.

Quick black sesame quinoa porridge with ginger and coconut milk.