Porridge

Green Dot Dot Organic Instant Rolled Oats

With the thickest-looking whole oats of those tried, this needed some intense stirring and needed to sit for a little longer after mixing with boiling water for the oats to be fully hydrated and softened. With a subtle wheat flavour, it would definitely benefit from a spoonful of honey.

HK$27, ThreeSixty, 3/F The Landmark, Queen's Road Central

Marks & Spencer Instant Oat Porridge

These handy single-serve cups contain dehydrated cream, milk and glucose. All you need to do is add hot water, but the flavour is similar to that of synthetic cream and can be unpleasant. However, the texture is not too mushy, and that is this product's saving grace.

HK$16, Marks & Spencer, citywide

Wild Harvest Organic Instant Oatmeal Original

The bright wheat flavours of this oatmeal mean that if you appreciate foods such as wholewheat bread, you might enjoy it without any additions. There is a bit of bite and a pleasant golden hue. You'll need more water than advised to make it smoother.

HK$47, ThreeSixty, 3/F The Landmark, Queen's Road Central

Nature's Path Organic Hot Oatmeal

A creamy-looking, pale ivory oatmeal with fairly large oats and a little bite. Using the amount of water as instructed (125ml-150ml), this large packet created a firm porridge that was more like cookie dough than cereal. There wasn't much flavour, and needed additions to perk it up.

HK$45.30, The Marketplace by Jason's, citywide

Quaker Instant Oatmeal

This light brown porridge is fine and smooth - there were no whole oats visible in the packet - but the resulting dish tended to be a bit on the pasty side. A strong but one-dimensional wheat flavour dominated. Overall, it tasted too much like wheat cereal that had been left around for too long and gone soggy.

HK$7.90, ParknShop, citywide