Nosh Recipes : Ultimate Comfort Food - Congee

Congee , also known as Choke or Chinese Rice Porridge is my ultimate comfort food
- the asian equivalent of chicken soup. Often a breakfast sort of food however it can be eaten at all times of the day.

I make quite a few variations of this dish.
The one with salmon is Pin's fav when she comes over to visit.

For me, this dish is never complete without Yu Tiao (Yu Cha Kuay) or Chinese deep fried dough sticks. These are not easy to get in England (fresh ones anyway) and so I've found that grilled yorkshire puddings that have been sliced and crisped up in the oven work well as substitutes.

The basic congee is as follows :

For a small serving of 4 (or two extremely hungry piglets)

2 bowls of rice
4 bowls of chicken stock (or 1 stock cube and 4 bowls of water)
an inch of root ginger that is finely sliced into slivers

seasoning
white pepper
light soy
sesame seed oil

To garnish
Yu Tiao (Or substitute with chopped yorkshire puddings)
fresh corriander leaves
sliced red chilli

Optionals :
Meat or Fish can be added either raw or pre cooked and shredded or sliced in bite sized portions.
If adding cooked fish - leave to last possible minute.
If adding cooked meat, this can be done in midstage where gentle simmering helps combine the meat flavours into the congee itself.
If adding raw meat or fish - add when congee has come to a boil and is still relatively loose in structure. Minced pork can be added (and is done so in local SEA. street fayre) - these are loosely balled and dropped into the boiling congee to cook together.
Any vegetables can simply be added in the last minutes of cooking time to retain maximum nutrient value. Vegetables that require simmering to tenderise are best used in this dish as the nutrients are not lost in the cooking process, but leached into the congee itself.
The pipping hot congee is served immediately - sometimes a raw egg is cracked into the porridge off the heat and this cooks as it is mixed in with the porridge itself.

Method
Bring stock/water to boil before adding rice - reduce to simmer and add sliced ginger.
The grains of rice should start to break up and thicken as you stir the watery mixture.
Thin down with more water if the consistency of the dish is too gloopy.
Season to taste. Add garnish and serve with accompanying dishes *

Plain congee, that is really just boiled rice in water,is often served with a multitude of side dishes and described as Teochew Porridge. (- As depicted in this picture above taken by the Pincilla)

*such as raw fish salad.