CONGEEEEEEE

Basic Congee Recipe

I LOOOOOOVE making congee. The best bit? It's sort of make it up as you go along.

Utensils:

You'll need a very big pot. Swapping from pot to pot is very messy business, so always try to everestimate how much congee you'll end up with. To avoid burning you'll have to stir regularly, so a long-handled spoon is useful.

FYI it is almost impossible to make small batches of congee.

Rice:

Any rice will work, although white rice is traditional. You can make congee out of brown rice, but it will take AGES. Sometimes I add just a tablespoon of white rice to my brown rice.

One cup of uncooked rice is enough for six people if you get it to dim-sum restaurant consistency. You can also use cooked rice, but I don't know how much you need to make congee.

Water:

Make it up as you go along. Some like a very thick congee with lots of substance, others, with patience and a very large pot, can reduce it to a watery soup. I'm a big fan of the kind of congee you get at dim-sum restaurants. Replacing all or some of the water with clear broth will improve the taste but will colour the congee.

Other ingredients:

If you want the beautiful snow-white congee of restaurants, keep it plain or only add salt until serving. Otherwise, soy sauce and stock cubes make the congee tastier. Don't overseason whilst cooking - soy sauce is normally added to taste later.

Carrots and sweet potatoes chopped roughly add sweet susbtance to the congee, especially if allowed to boil for a long time. Add whole cloves of garlic and slices of ginger at the same time as the carrots or sweet potatoes. The carrot, sweet potatoes and garlic should be soft and tender when the congee is done.

Lately I've been stirring through shredded or sliced cooked chicken breast just at the last minute to add some protein, although you can put in uncooked marinated meat (don't overcook) or my grandmother sometimes uses dried scallops. Steamed de-boned fish added to unflavoured congee is the classical Chinese baby-food. In dim-sum restaurants century egg and chicken congee is most common.

Condiments:

Soy sauce, sesame oil, pepper, salt, coriander, fried shallots and spring onions. Congee is sometimes a one-pot meal, eaten in place of rice or served with Chinese crullers.

CHICKEN AND CARROT CONGEE for six people:

Method:

1. Add one cup uncooked white rice and one teaspoon each of salt and soy sauce to a very deep pot.
2. Add two cups boiling water and stir regularly until all water has been absorbed.
3. Add chopped carrot, whole cloves of garlic and sliced ginger to taste.
4. Add two cups boiling water and stir regularly until all water has been absorbed.
5. Repeat step four until desired consistency has been reached.
6. Add a final two cups of boiling water and stir until all has been absorbed (this might take a while)
7. Add chicken (cooked or uncooked) untill warmed through.
8. Serve.