Sunday Mornings: Congee

This morning we enjoyed the ultimate Chinese comfort food: Congee, or Chinese rice porridge (also known as jook). It’s been called the smoothest comfort food around, and if you’re not feeling so well, or need something that’s going to stick with you for a while, then congee fits the bill perfectly. It’s also a great way to use up leftover meat or other bits of leftover vegetables. Chinese eat it as a cure for hangovers, or when their stomachs don’t feel so hot, or as a power food before school or a big exam. Congee is usually an acquired taste for American palates, and can initially seem underwhelming, probably because we are used to and like big flavors in our foods. Congee’s flavors are more subtle and have to be teased out. It’s open to lots of adaptations though, and at any dim sum restaurant the congee cart will offer several items you can choose from to add flavor and to customize your bowl.

Although congee is traditionally made on the stovetop (restaurants usually start theirs at the crack of dawn), we make ours in the crockpot so that it’s ready when we get up in the morning. I usually add some chopped leftover meat to the pot when I put it together, but that can either be left out or placed in the bottom of the bowl and the congee ladled over it when it’s served. Either way, it’s incredibly easy to make. The only necessary ingredients are rice, ginger (ginger is what soothes the upset stomach) and water.

When we met each of our daughters in China, we asked their caregivers what they ate and were told for all three of them: congee! We dutifully ordered congee for each of them in the hotel restaurants where we stayed, but each girl turned up her nose and refused to touch it. Hmmmm. It turned out they were way more interested in all the other new foods they could try from the buffet table rather than the same stuff they had eaten every morning in their orphanages. Mr. Losing It and I also couldn’t figure out the appeal of this bland (to us) porridge, and yet almost every Chinese diner had a bowl of it so we knew there was something good going on with it.

These days though the girls ask when I’m going to make it again, and I frankly don’t know why I don’t make it more often – it’s so easy, and we all love it. I always make our congee with some chicken broth, just because we like the richer flavor, but that’s optional as is the soy sauce I add. Also, we’ve found it’s best not to grate the ginger; the larger pieces seem to impart more flavor, and cook down enough to where they can be eaten as part of the porridge.

Don’t forget to link your breakfast or brunch recipe at the bottom of the page!

I’M LOSING IT HERE CONGEE

• 1 cup rice (we prefer short-grained as it’s starchier)
• 4 cups water
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped into large pieces
• 1 to 2 cups diced leftover chicken, turkey, ham or other meat (optional, and any seafood should be added after it’s cooked)
• 2 TBSP soy sauce
• Dark sesame oil; chopped green onions; chopped peanuts (optional)

In a large crockpot, mix together the rice, water, broth, ginger pieces and soy sauce. Meat can either be cooked with the congee or added later. Cover and cook overnight on low, for at least 9 hours.

To serve, ladle porridge into a bowl and top with a TBSP of sesame oil, and some chopped green onions and chopped peanuts, if desired. If you are adding meat later, place it in the bowl and then place the hot porridge over the meat. Add salt to taste.

Here’s where you can add a link to a favorite breakfast or brunch recipe that you’re posted. (Your link won’t show up right away, thanks to the basic incompatibility between linking tools and WordPress.com, but I’ll make sure it shows).

1. Greek Village Omelette (Lizzie’s Home World)
2. Pumpkin Spice Egg Puffs (Premeditated Leftovers)
3. Sugar Snap Porridge (Laura aka The Scoffing Cow)

Advertisement