Congee (粥)
Ingredients
The congee
- 2 cup
- rice (jasmine and sushi rice in equal parts is best)
- 16–20 cups
- water or stock
- 30g
- ginger, more than you think
- 1-2
- dried scallops
- 2 tbsp
- chicken stock powder
- 1 tsp
- salt
- a splash
- sesame oil, or any oil you like
- 2–4
- dried anchovies (Pan Mee variant), headless (use sparingly because of the inherent fishiness)
To serve
- to taste
- sesame oil
- to taste
- white pepper
Simple Chicken / Pork slices
- 250–500g
- chicken thigh / Pork fillet, sliced thinly
- to coat
- soy sauce
- to coat
- oyster sauce
- a splash
- sesame oil
- a bit
- corn starch
- a bit
- water
Lean Pork With Century Egg (皮蛋瘦肉粥)
- 2–3
- century eggs, quartered
- 500g–1kg
- pork fillet
- to coat
- soy sauce
- 1 tsp
- baking powder
- 1 tbsp
- corn starch
- a bit
- water
Meatballs (肉丸粥)
- 500g–1kg
- pork mince
- to coat
- soy sauce
- 15g
- ginger, finely diced
- 2 cloves
- garlic, finely diced
- 1 tbsp
- corn starch
- a bit
- water
- 1, if needed
- egg, if the mixture is too watery
A twist on Pan Mee
- My own twist, it works because you have a deep umami congee base from the anchovies and then a pork mince and ginger to balance the rest of it out.
- 500g–1kg
- pork mince
- 15g
- ginger, finely diced
- 1 clove
- garlic, finely diced
- 4–6
- dried shitake mushrooms
- to season
- soy sauce
- to season
- oyster sauce
- 2 packets
- dashi powder
- to taste
- salt and sugar
Method
- 01
If your variant marinates meat (Pork Mode, Meatballs), do that first. It can sit for as long as the congee is cooking.
- 02
For 'Pan Mee', soak the dried shitake mushrooms in warm to hot water. Don't throw the water away.
- 03
Wash the rice in the pot until water is semi-clear. Don't wash it too much, you want to keep that starch.
- 04
Add the sesame oil, sliced ginger, plus whatever dried ingredients your variant calls for.
- 05
Add the water. (don't have to be exact, you can use less to start and top up more as it cooks)
- 06
Add the chicken stock powder and salt. Roughly 2 tbsp of stock powder and 1 tsp of salt.
- 07
Bring the whole pot to a rolling boil, then give it a stir.
- 08
Lower the heat to a simmer and partially cover.
- 09
Simmer 30–45 minutes depending on the rice you used. Check every 20 minutes or so to see if it has thickened to your liking.
- 10
Resist stirring it too much. While the heat is on, you risk getting the rice to stick to the bottom of the pot.
- 11
When it's almost done, use a whisk to break the rice grains, this will actually significantly thickened the congee.
- 12
Except the "Pan Mee" variant, this is where we start cooking the meat in the congee. So, drop the meat in (you can oil it too) and stir to prevent the meat from sticking. The congee will poach the meat.
- 13
For "Pan Mee", you want to prep the mince meat.
- 14
Fry the diced ginger and garlic in oil until fragrant, add the mince with some water to braise it, and break it into small lumps with a spatula. This takes some effort, keep going. Add the soaked mushrooms, season with soy sauce, oyster sauce and dashi powder, then simmer 10–20 minutes.
- 15
Serve into a bowl with the meat of your choice. Top it all off with sesame oil and white pepper. I find it great with Braised Cabbage (蚝油包菜)
Notes
- The ginger and garlic amounts are just a guide, being precise with either isn't a big deal.
- Every congee recipe works around three things: the water to rice ratio, umami, and aroma.
- The ratio is 1 cup rice to 10 cups liquid, but different rice absorbs at different rates. Start at 8 or 9 cups, it's easy to thin congee but it takes longer to simmer extra water out.
- In a rice cooker or slow cooker, use 1 to 8. Water can't evaporate as much.
- Rice, best to worst: jasmine and sushi rice in equal parts (the sushi rice thickens it, the jasmine brings that really nice rice flavour), jasmine only, medium grain, short grain. Avoid long grain entirely unless you have no choice.
- Aroma comes from oils or ginger. Sesame oil and congee is the classic, but chili oil, fat from the meat, or scallion oil all work.
- Umami is the meat side, and it is worth marinating and cooking separately with soy sauce and oyster sauce. Meat that has only been seasoned with salt is what makes a lot of congee boring.