All posts tagged: congee

Arroz Caldo for two.

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It’s been a month since we got back from the Philippines and winter has landed heavily on New Zealand. I’ve pulled out my old winter coat and I’m wrapped in my biggest scarf. I’m contemplating new slippers. Is two pairs of slippers really enough? All I want is comfort food. I love comfort food. If I could figure out how to make a living devouring the world’s comfort foods, I would be in heaven. One comfort food that I grew up with is congee. Rice porridge. Placed somewhere between soup and risotto, it’s a bowl of steaming goodness. My Cantonese parents made congee when we were sick or just needed comfort. Congee was brought to the Philippines by Chinese migrants, where the locals tweaked it and gave it a Spanish name: Arroz Caldo. ARROZ is “rice”, CALDO is “hot” and this tricked up relative to congee was on my list of dishes to try. Many parts of the Philippines serve a yellow-hued Arroz Caldo (coloured with safflower) however, we visited the Visayas where they serve …

“Shrimp grits” Congee

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My family is Cantonese so I grew up with congee as a go-to comfort food. Congee or “JOOK” (rhymes with book) in Cantonese is long grain rice cooked in plenty of water until it resembles a thick porridge. Also known as rice porridge, it can be served plain or stirred through or loaded with various toppings. Being notoriously squishy and easy to digest, it’s also a common baby food, or food for the sick or elderly. Eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner. 100% comfort. I’m more than a little obsessed with American soul food. I don’t know why, but shrimp and grits is a fascination of mine even though I’ve never visited the US. Having eaten shrimp and grits in Wellington recently, I’ve had it in my mind to recreate something similar at home. Shrimp and grits was traditionally a breakfast dish but now eaten at other meal times as well. I present to you: the lovechild of congee and shrimp grits! “Shrimp grits” congee Serves 1 Ingredients 1/2 cup long grain rice, rinsed 4 …

LBTL Challenge: Day 3

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Day 3 Menu 1 bowl of Congee (made with 2 cups of chicken stock, no meat, garnished with a clove of garlic and ginger matchsticks) 2 Peanut butter sandwiches 2 slices of toast with peanut butter Egg fried rice Today I’m halfway through the 5 day Live Below The Line challenge. I feel good in the morning and at night, but at work, I haven’t allocated enough to eat. This afternoon in the office, I felt lightheaded and dizzy and started seeing stars. Generally, I feel foggy from a couple hours after a meal until the next meal and god help me if I have to do any work that requires a lot of concentration. I wouldn’t trust myself to operate heavy machinery or drive. Luckily, I don’t have to do either. Breakfast was yummy and the 1/4 cup of rice that sounded like so much yesterday was gone too quick. I ate one sandwich at morning tea and the other at lunch and I was still very hungry so it was a long, long …

LBTL Challenge: Congee Recipe

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Congee is a simple rice soup or porridge that has been eaten all over Asia for centuries. The two essential ingredients are rice and water but many different meats, vegetables, sauces and spices can be added to it. Congee is a cheap dish and quite filling considering and it is eaten as comfort food for the unwell, the very young and the very old. It is usually eaten for breakfast, but also lunch or dinner. It is so common that even McDonald’s sells congee in many Asian countries. I’ve eaten congee from when I was a tiny baby and I’ve eaten rice soup and porridge in many Asian countries in my travels. I always find it very comforting, especially for a traveller’s tummy. When I first signed onto the Live Below The Line challenge, I thought I wouldn’t be eating meat. But when I saw chicken frames at $1.99 per kilogram at my local Chinese supermarket, I knew I had to use it. So at the start of this week, I cooked up one kilogram …

The best weekday breakfast for a cold Autumn morning

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This is the congee I’ve been eating this week. I treated myself to a 50mm f1.8 lens for my Nikon D3000 this week and this is the first food photo I’ve taken with it. This lens has no auto focus when screwed to my camera so I’m hoping that this lens will force me to get better with the camera’s manual settings. I usually just put rice straight into water to boil for congee, but I read that soaking the rice prior to boiling  makes for creamier congee. It’s true! This week I’ve been eating congee with seasoned pork mince and ginger for breakfast. Garnished with fresh spring onion slices from the garden, soy sauce and sesame oil. Pork and Ginger Congee (Makes 3-4 servings) Ingredients 1 cup long grain rice (a rice cup is 180ml) Water 200gm lean pork mince 2 slices of ginger for each serve (cut into matchsticks) 1 stem of spring onion (chopped) Splash of soy sauce Drizzle of sesame seed oil Preparation Soak the rice for a hour or two …

Congee. Jook. Rice Soup. Rice Porridge.

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I love congee! I love Jook! Chinese congee is usually very mild. Bland even. Even the chicken and scallop version I had for breakfast not long ago in Hong Kong could have done with a little more seasoning. So it was a delight for me to try versions of this dish that other asian countries had to offer. Congee is not something that is found easily in Auckland city. Kiwis don’t really dig it and it’s considered poor people food by those who love it. Not something you would order when you eat out. What’s the difference? The easiest way to differentiate between rice soup and rice porridge is that rice soup is cooked rice in a flavoured broth. In rice soup, the rice and the soup are separate layers. You can have a spoonful of soup and then a spoonful of rice if you please or you can have both at once. Much like noodle soup. Rice porridge has the consistency of porridge because the rice granules are cooked until they break and thicken the soup. …

B for Breakfast, C for Congee

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Congee is rice porridge and often served for breakfast. It’s also served to babies and sick people as it is easy to digest and is often served with extras. When I was a newborn, I was feed congee with fish. Some people enjoy it plain, but I prefer some “toppings”. My breakfast congee. Rice, pork mince, spring onion and ginger. Boil half a cup of long grain rice in about 3 inches of water. Cook for 1-2 hours until the grains of rice have broken down and there is no longer rice and water but rice bound in a thick liquid. Add a handful of minced pork or chopped chicken and cook for another 15 minutes. Add a splash of soy sauce, salt, ginger and spring onions. Serve or cool and refridgerate. Can be microwaved or reheated on the stovetop each morning for breakfast.