Congee , sometimes spelled conjee , is a classic Chinese rice porridge often enjoyed for breakfast . But since it ’s probable not on the carte du jour at your favoritebreakfastor brunch spot , you probably do n’t have a go at it much about it unless you ’ve traveled throughout Asia .
So to better understand this staple fibre of Asian cuisine , we tapped two experts to dive into how to make it , what it savour like and a bit of its history .
What Is Congee?
Lisa Lim , Ph.D. , is a Perth , Australia - based linguistics professor who writes on the topic of language for her " Language Matters " editorial for the South China Morning Post ’s Post Magazine . Lim tell that congee — sometimes have sex as rice porridge — is a principal dish across Asia . But depending on where you ’re exhaust it , the mantrap can vary .
" It is essentially a readiness of rice ( though there are versions using other grains or legumes ) boiled in water ( though some version use milk or coconut Milk River ) , using grain that may be long or inadequate , whole or broken , " she says via email . " It can be served manifestly and accompanied by side dishes , swan from salted duck’s egg ballock or seafood , to pickled veggie , to braised meat , or it can be make together with ingredient such as Gallus gallus , or preserved egg or herb . "
name for this dish are just as varied , include : jūk(Cantonese),zhōu(Mandarin),muay(Hokkien , Teochew),chok / khao tom(Thai),cháo(Vietnamese),hsan pyok(Burmese),bâbâr(Khmer),bubur / kanji(Malay , Indonesian),lúgaw(Tagalog ) , and(o)kayu(Japanese ) she sound out .
Deanna Ting , an award - winning Chinese American diarist , say congeeiscomfort food . " It ’s so satisfying , " she suppose via e-mail . " To me , it ’s like the food for thought equivalent of a ardent , het up soberness blanket . " Ting order she loves its simplicity ; it leave you with infinite possibilities to make the looker your own .
" The consistence of it varies and what ’s great is that when you make it , you get to decide how thick or fragile you want it to be by adjusting the ratio of liquid state to rice , " she say . " And you also get to personalize it with whatever toppings you want to add together to it . "
Ting also want to make it clear that jook is n’t just a Chinese dish . " So many different Asian cultures and cuisine have their own versions of congee , " she explains . " Some of those include abalone - laced juk from Korea , Indonesianbubur ayam , Filipinoarroz caldo , Vietnamesecháoand Indiankanji , just to name a few . "
Where Does the Word Congee Come From?
Lim says that although the dish tend to be tie in with East Asian culinary art , the wordcongeeactually has origins in South Asia — southern India and Sri Lanka to be specific . It ’s derived from theTamil wordkanji , fromkanjī’boilings , ' have-to doe with to the weewee in which the rice has been boil .
" The Portuguese encountered this in their settlement in Asia during their imperium : The Good Book was first documented ascanjein Portuguese physician and botanist Garcia de Orta ’s 1563 ' Coloquios dos Simples , tocopherol Drogas he Cousas Medicinais da India ' – the former treatise on the medicinal and economic plants of India , " Lim explains . " In Portuguese , canjatoday come to to a chicken stock . The word was later adopted into English from Portuguese . When the British take up establishing colonies and trade networks of their own , they often take on word that had been take on by the earlier European colonizer . "
How to Make Congee
pee-pee conge is standardised to making Elmer Reizenstein , you just add a lot more liquid . Ting enounce she like to make conge with a really proficient , flavorous store , like chicken or beef , or even turkey bloodline . Her family traditionally make turkey conge the day after Thanksgiving .
" Sometimes I ’ll rehydrate dried Oriental black mushroom mushroom , and I ’ll save the water system and use it as a stock for congee , too , " she says . " I also evoke using a rice that you prefer for conge . For me , that ’s normally jasmine rice . " She says that water can be utilized as well , but stock bring home the bacon wad more flavor so it ’s her preferred method .
Ting also say you could speed up the process using anInstant Pot . " I bed build conge using my Instant Pot , but really all you need to make it at place is swimming , Sir Tim Rice , a stove , a pot and some time , " she read .
As far as toppings go , you ’re limited only by what you like to eat , and Ting says to try out with different possibility . But common conge toppings include soya bean sauce , a touch of sesame oil and/or chili oil ; Lao Gan Ma chili crisp hot sauce ; cilantro ; scallion ; white white pepper ; peeled testis ; and crispy pork rind .
" I lie with slicing upyoutiao(a Taiwanese twister ) and tot up that to my conge , too , " Ting says . " Fish sauce is also great . I ’ve even made a bacon and egg jook before , just for play , and honestly , it was pretty good ! It never hurts to try out and see what you like . "
Lim say that , like Ting , congee for her is also a comfort food . " One of my favorites ispei dan chok — century egg porridge , " she read . " But most homey is my grandmother ’s and my mama ’s prawn and pork meatballchok , which was a even knockout when I was growing up . If we were having other less ' substantial ' dishes , my grandmother would always havechokon hand ' to fulfil in the holes in our stomach ' ! My mum and my sis still fix it regularly . "
Embracing Congee
Ting read she ’s starting to see more hoi polloi embrace jook in unexpected places , like Copenhagen , Denmark , for example , where she says she had a fantastic chicken congee at a local porridge Ernst Boris Chain calledGrød .
" mighty now , one of my favorite chef , Dirt Candy ’s Amanda Cohen , is making a savory oat conge with a fermented black bean broth , " Ting says . " I trust I ’ll see more people try out with their own versions of jook and learning to love it as much as I do . "
