cantonese congee recipe

Congee is a style of rice porridge that is very common in Asian Countries. Because of its popularity with many different cultures and countries, there are many variations on the recipe. This hub contains a Cantonese congee recipe - a style very common in Chinese restaurants. In addition to soy sauce and a dash of white pepper, congee is usually garnished with some toppings. The toppings for the porridge can pretty much be anything - though, typical toppings served with congee include: diced green onions, diced peanuts, crumbled dried meat (fish, pork, beef), pickled vegetable, or slices of a fried dough/bread called youtiao. Some people also enjoy eggs with their bowl of congee - slices of pickled or boiled egg are common garnishes, and sometimes people add an egg into the pot when cooking the porridge.

Congee is a great breakfast and late supper dish, though many people eat it for lunch and dinner too. It is a healthy, low-fat dish (depending on what you add as a topping) and much like a post-thanksgiving soup, can be made with the leftovers of a big turkey or chicken feast! A pot can stay good in the refrigerator for about 5 days, and a bowl of congee only takes a minute in the microwave to heat up.

Ingredients:

1 coffee mug of long-grain rice

10 cups of water

1/4 cup of diced green onions (optional)

Sliced ginger - about a 'thumb' of ginger, sliced into thin strips (optional)

leftover chicken or turkey pieces or a chicken breast (optional)

1 can chicken broth (optional)

Cooking Time: (~5hrs - shorter if you use less water)

Preparation:

In a large pot, add everything in (yes, everything...the rice, water, green onions, chicken, ginger and chicken broth). Bring it all to a boil. As soon as it boils, reduce the heat to medium-low. Throughout the process, you want the porridge to be reducing at a temperature level that is just barely boiling. Loosely place a lid on the top of the pot, so that it allows steam to escape

Let the pot barely boil for about 5 hours - just leave it alone and check on it every hour or so, as the water level lowers and the porridge thickens, you will need to lower the heat so it doesn't turn into a rolling boil; you also want to stir it around every once in a while to prevent clumping and sticking to the sides of the pot. Cook like this until it reaches a porridge-like consistency and a thickness that has a creamy texture. Everyone has their own preference of how watery they prefer their congee, but Cantonese-style congee tends to be on the thicker side (which is about 2/3 less of the volume than you originally started with in the pot).

And that's it! Though it takes a while to cook, it really is not that complicated or involved - set it on the stove and watch some TV or do some laundry or putter around the house...just come back and check on it every so often.

Also, don't worry about dicing up the chicken - it will fall apart as it slowly boils and as you stir every so often.

Have fun with adding other ingredients too - as i mentioned above, some people like to throw an egg into the mix...if you are going to add an egg, crack one in the last hour or so of the process. There are no rules to making congee - add whatever you think will taste good...the only ingredients you need is rice and water. A vegetarian version of congee is easy to make and still very delicious. As i mentioned above, if you want to make it faster than the slow boil-simmer method, use less water - you can go as low as 3 parts water to 1 part rice for a super fast cooking time - but don't use less water than that (but be sure to check on it more frequently as you will need to reduce the heat more often).