With the weather turning cold, there is nothing that says comfort food than something warm and soupy. Congee is my ultimate comfort food when I’m feeling sick or when the weather is cold. This is also my go to food when I’m on my period because it’s warm and easy to make. The best part of congee is the versatility. You can add any veggies or protein into congee. It’s a great way to get my veggies and protein in easily digestible form as well I can eat one pot meal that doesn’t require a lot of cooking.
What is congee?
Congee is the cantonese word for rice porridge. In Mandarin it’s called zhou (粥). Growing up, my mom make congee pretty often, usually on weekends or dinner. Congee is a pretty popular food to make for young infants when they start to eat solid food because you can add finely diced veggies and protein. Now I make congee when I’m on my period or feeling sick, it’s easy and doesn’t require a lot of equipment or ingredients.
Variations of congee
The basic congee is usually plain white rice with water. It is boiled until the rice breaks down and the mixture is slightly thick. It’s very versatile and you can add any toppings you like as well as sauces to flavour it. My favourite way of eating it is adding ground meat (pork or chicken) with preserved duck eggs commonly known as thousand year old egg. You can also add pork floss which I loved doing it when I was a kid. I also have a lazy way of cooking so it cuts down on the cooking time. I usually take leftover rice or cooked rice, add water/stock and any topping I like into a pot and let it boil. It cuts down the cooking time and you don’t have to very precise with water measurement. My mom often use this method to use up any leftover rice we have sitting in the fridge.
In this recipe I will make the congee with preserved duck eggs and ground chicken. You can substitute with any other ingredients or stock as you wish and it’s a perfect winter/sick day food!
Pro-tip
- Use either short grain, jasmine rice to make your congee.
- Use medium to low heat to cook your congee or else you will burn the bottom of the pot
- don’t walk away from it while cooking or else it’s going to burn.
- add more water than you think you need, you can always reduce it. If you do it the other way, you might burn the congee or dilute the flavour too much.
Congee (with preserved duck egg and ground chicken)
Equipment
- 1 heavy bottom pot
Ingredients
- 300 g ground chicken
- 1½ cup of cooked rice cold
- 3 cups of stock/water
- Pinch of salt
- Sesame oil
- 2 preserved duck eggs
Instructions
- Cut the preserved egg into bite size pieces
- Add a bit of oil into the pot and stir fry the ground chicken until there is no pink left. Make sure to break up the ground chicken so it doesn't clump
- Add the rice and stock/water. Turn the heat until medium low
- Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning
- Add the preserved eggs and simmer for another 5 minutes. Add a bit of salt.
- Once the rice has soften to a point where you can mush them together, the congee is all done.
- Add some sesame oil to the congee and salt to taste if needed. Can eat it with preserved veggies
