Chinese has a comfort food equivalent to “western” chicken soup, and it is rice porridge (congee), or in Cantonese Chinese, “jook”. It is often eaten as breakfast or during poor appetite – may be due to sickness.

If you have a rice cooker, you know just how easy it is to make rice without constant watching and stirring. Here is the recipe for the poor souls who still have to slave over a stove to make sure the rice or congee is not burnt.

They are many styles of jook but essentially they are all rice boiling in water (broth) till it goes mushy. You can have your jook thicker or thinner to your preference.

Makes 3-4 bowls

• 2 tbsp salt
• 100g lean pork
• 1/2 cup rice, uncooked, washed lightly
• 6 cups water
• 1 heap tbsp green tea with jasmine
• 1 cup boiling water

 

Garnish:

• Chopped peanuts about 2 tbsp
• spring onions, about 2 tbsp
• corn kernel, about 2 tbsp

 

Directions

1. In a small pot, half filled with water and bring to boil. When it is boiling, drop the entire piece of pork into the water and boil till cooked (probably 20 minutes)
2. When the pork is slightly cooled, put it in a container, sprinkle salt evenly on top and bottom of the pork. Covered and stored overnight in the fridge.
3. Next day: Put the water and rice in a pot and bring to boil. Once it starts boiling, bring the heat down to low and cook on low heat for 4 – 6 hours. Stir occasionally to make sure there is no rice stuck at the bottom of the pot or your congee will taste burnt!
4. When all the pieces of rice are totally opened up and the mixture is like thick glue, then the congee is almost ready.
5. Infuse the green tea with 1 cup of boiling water for 5 minutes. Take out the salted pork, brush of excess salt if any, and tear the pork into long shreds and drop them into the green tea. Stir lightly, infuse for another 5 minutes.
6. Spoon out the shredded pork and drop them into the congee, stir to mix. Add the green tea with jasmine bit by bit to make sure the congee is not too salty (yes, taste your food now)
7. Once the desirable saltiness is reached, pour the congee into serving bowls and top with garnish. Enjoy while it is hot!

 

Oh so you want Green Tea with Jasmine? Click the link.