congee: my folk healing comfort food

One of the things I rediscovered while I was on travel in Asia was a good bowl of rice congee (粥, zuk1 in Cantonese). Sometimes it's called rice porridge or rice gruel here in the states, but porridge or gruel makes it sounds like I'm eating something out of a nursery rhyme or a Charles Dickens novel, Oliver Twist in particular comes to mind. Ok, so by definition, it probably is a porridge or gruel, but I think it tastes good.

Congee is a traditional breakfast food in many parts of Asia (East, Southeast, and South), sort of like how oatmeal, cream of wheat, and grits (another favorite of mine) are breakfast items here in the West. In Hong Kong, congee is a favorite local snack food served at eateries at all hours of the day. While I was walking around in Kowloon (九龍, gau2 lung4 in Cantonese), I found places with hundreds of varieties of congee on their menu. Some places had specialized congee stoves which were heating about 50 little french onion soup bowls of congee at a time, made to order. Congee as it sounds, is pretty plain, just rice and a base liquid, usually some soup stock and water, but it is quite versatile as one can add most anything to it to make it to their own taste. One Cantonese favorite is to top it with a preserved egg. Not quite my preference, but I can understand why -- it gives a really intense taste in contrast to the mild taste of the congee. I grew up with a much simpler version—congee topped with pulled chicken breast.

Every time I was sick as a kid, my parents would make pulled chicken congee as my comfort food and folk healing remedy. It was my family's version of chicken noodle soup. So this week I've been struggling with some crazy stomach virus that is going around and what am I craving? Congee, of course. Below is my very unrefined recipe that I used to satisfy my fix this week.

Basic Rice Congee
(makes 4-6 servings)

4 cups of chicken stock
4 cups of water
1 cup of uncooked white rice
1 cup of cooked, pulled chicken breast (optional)

1. Combine chicken stock, water, and rice in a 4 quart pot. Without covering, bring the pot to a boil, stirring occaisionally.

2. Reduce heat to medium low, cover with the lid cracked, continue cooking at a low boil for one hour. Consistency will eventually appear like thick oatmeal.

3. Spoon into bowls and top with several pieces of pulled chicken breast and a few grinds of white (or black) pepper and any other seasonings of choice (a dash of soy sauce or a drop of chili vinegar, for example).

The key to my recipe is simplicity and working with what is in the kitchen cabinet. When I'm sick, I don't want to be at the grocery store searching for ingredients. All I need for this recipe is a one-quart box of chicken stock (low sodium and/or organic), a cup of rice, some water, and I'm ready to go. There are much more refined recipes out there, calling for a mix of different types of rice (short grain, glutinous, etc...) and for other ingredents for flavoring. My philosophy is to start with the basic congee and then use that as a base to add other flavorings later, if desired.