I love congee! I first encountered this soupy rice (or ricey soup) porridge in China a year ago. It was served at breakfast buffets with an assortment of strange-smelling condiments, including dried fish flakes. Dried fish, especially dried scallops, are a delicacy in China. I didn't enjoy the bland gruel or its condiments. But now I am learning to cook it my way.
I got a new cookbook, "The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen: Classic Family Recipes for Celebration and Healing" by Grace Young, who grew up in San Francisco's Chinatown. The first section is on the importance of rice and congee (pronounced "kahn-jee." I think.) I have a bad cold right now, so I promptly made myself some healing congee. It was good! Here's how I do it:
Combine 1 cup of white rice with 3-4 cups of chicken stock and 4 slices of ginger. Bring to a boil, then simmer for hours. Yum yum! It was like risotto at first (without all the butter and cheese), and then changed to a soupier texture, especially when I added more water. Why congee is better than risotto: you don't have to stand there and stir it for 45 minutes! Ariel likes it too, and she likes toast with her soup. I walked away from her for a minute this morning, and she was spooning her congee on top of her toast, folding it, and calling it a congee sandwich. Too cute.
Oh, and I must tell you (I must shout it on the internet for all the world to hear), my daughter said, "I love you Mom," for the first time! Yay! Happy New Year!!!
*The Village of Gruel is a restaurant we drove by in Guangzhou. I'm pretty sure it was a congee house, with a really bad English translation!
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