Chicken Congee
I dislike porridge because I associate it with illnesses. My mother always made us eat plain porridge with a douse of soy-sauce to cleanse the body. The tongue, which was already numb from whatever ailment we had, had to suffer though the thick gruel spiked with sharp flavour of soy-sauce. Horrible.
Until one day. We were in KL and had dimsum at Mandarin Oriental and ordered their congee. I was surprised at the texture: it was silky and thin and delicately flavoured. I vowed to discover more congee like that back home as, at that time in Jakarta, a lot of congee still display the original grains of rice albeit swollen beyond recognition.
Of course now, they are everywhere. My favourite so far is from Congee Queen (or King or its other subsidiaries) in Toronto. When I left, there was not many of such places in Jakarta.
The good thing is, this type of congee is not at all hard to make at home as long as you own a slow cooker. The only problem is, I can’t find decent century eggs here. Otherwise, life would be perfect. Here it is.
Disclaimer: I can’t vouch for the quality of the said restaurant in KL’s Mandarin Oriental anymore because that was close to 7 years ago!
Ingredients:
2 pieces of chicken thighs
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1/2 thumb of ginger, peeled and crushed
1 cup of rice
6 cups of water
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
salt and pepper to taste
Optional:
Fish sauce to taste (can be replaced with soy-sauce but I don’t want my congee to have colour)
A few pieces of white cloud mushroom, soaked in hot water and chopped. It adds texture and I happen to have some left over in the fridge.
Garnish:
Spring onion, finely chopped (I used the middle part of fresh green onion I have lying around the house)
Chili oil
Directions:
Put the chicken pieces, garlic and ginger in a pot and cover with water (approx. 6 cups). Season with salt to taste. Bring to boil and let it simmer at low heat for about 2 hours to produce clear broth.
Fish out the chicken and let cool. Put the rice with the broth in a slow cooker and cook at the low setting for about 4-5 hours or until the rice grains swell and split. Please take care not to burn the congee when broth has been all absorbed by the rice grains.
When the chicken are cool enough to handle, chop the meat and season with salt, fish sauce (if using), and pepper. Set aside. When the congee is ready, start to fry the meat briefly in a pan to let the flavour meld. Remove from fire and douse it with sesame oil.
Remove the thick congee into a pot. Thin with more water to the desired consistency and adjust the taste. Heat the mixture until piping hot.
To assemble, pour the hot porridge into a deep bowl. Top it with the chicken mixture and garnish with spring onion. Sprinkle chili oil for added punch.
