Asian breakfasts can be a bit hit and miss.
Rice soup is generally bland, confusing & terrible.
Just rice, and water.
Then you get tortured in your 'pre-coffee mode' by having to choose from a startling array of inappropriate looking ingredients and unfamiliar garnishes to dump into it.
It's sort of like learning to fly a plane by..
..
..
..
sitting in the pilot seat and lashing out blindly at the control panel.
It doesn't have to be like that.
You can actually make it 'ready to eat', and serve it fully garnished.
Japanese Chinese, Thais and other SE Asian nations have their own preferences and the tasteless basic soup is served with lots of options so as not to offend anyone.
Not by me.
I have no issues with offending people - I'm a chef! Bring it on.
I just want to keep MY tribe of punters happy - I don't care about the complaining masses that are eating elsewhere.
This is all about pleasing the tastebuds here and now - not diluting and generalising to please everybody.
Lets do a simple recipe right here and now that will have you smacking your lips.
Easy Khao Tom (thai rice soup) recipe

• Water or stock (about 1litre/4 cups)
• Steamed rice (3/4 cup)
• Minced pork (OK - or chicken, or prawns,) 110g or 1/4 lb
• Knorr, maggi, Ros dee, or your favourite stock powder, (should match your main meat, veg or seafood ingredient)
• Salt
• White pepper, ground
• Fried minced garlic (for garnish)
• Fresh coriander, chopped (for garnish)

1. Put the cold or warm water in a saucepan with the cooked (steamed jasmine) rice.
   
2. Add the pork mince or chicken mince.
   (If using seafood, DO NOT add until the end)
3. Stir well or whisk, to break up the mince into small bits.
   Not too chunky.
   
4. Add some stock powder and a little salt
5. Simmer for about 30 minutes until the rice has started to become soft and beginning to break up.
   
6. taste it, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
   

If using prawns or seafood instead of pork or chicken mince, add now.
they only need a copuple of minutes cooking.
If you cook seafood too long it gets dry and floury.
You can mince or chop the prawns, or just take the veins and shell off and cook them whole.
That's it.
Serve in a bowl, and top with fried garlic and fresh chopped coriander.
Easy, tasty, light and delicious Other cool things to put on top or inside: Salted duck egg.

• Fresh egg stirred in last 1 minute of cooking
• Pork crackling
• Crunchy fried chicken skin
• Fried lemongrass
• Fried shallots
• Chopped spring onions
• Dried roasted chilli or chillin in vinegar
• A spoon - for getting it in IN YER BELLY!

This is a basic but tasty recipe.
I know, because I just made this one and finished it for breakfast.
Do you have any favourite garnishes for your rice soup? See the photo and ask any questions at http://chef-a-gogo.
com/