Congee: a Chinese chicken and rice soup to restore your health

“Everything starts with what you eat” 

Congee is a traditional rice porridge soup. It’s a nourishing bowl of love and health from my childhood. Congee is like an asian version of the ubiquitous chicken soup found in most cultures with the addition of rice, of course. Congee is especially good for young kids, the elderly, or when recovering from illness.

I use chicken stock as the liquid in this recipe for a more nutritious take on congee. Traditionally the congee is made with water and provides a neutral background palate to the pops of flavour from the marinated meat and other the toppings you add before eating.

The ratio of rice to liquid varies depending on your preference. I like my congee with a soup-y consistency, so I use 1 cup rice to 10 cups liquid. This recipe uses this ratio. Check the variations section at the end of this recipe for different ratios.

There’s a secret step included in this recipe to speed up the cooking process, so this congee recipe only takes an hour to cook. It’s the only tweak that I’ve added to Mum’s recipe below.

Mum’s congee recipe

( Serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

1 cup of white rice, soaked for 30 minutes (or overnight if you’re organised)

10 cups of chicken stock

340g minced meat (chicken, turkey, beef or pork)

1 tbs Oyster sauce

2 tsp Corn flour

2 tbs water

2 tbs oil

Ginger, sliced

1 tsp Salt

Spring onions, chopped

Method:

1.  Drain the water from the soaked rice. Wash the rice another 2 times. This washes off the starches so your congee has a silky feel, and prevents the congee from being clumpy

2.  Using a large stock pot. Bring the chicken stock to boil

3.  Add the washed rice to the boiling chicken stock. Stir. Bring to boil. It’s important to NOT stir the rice again until instructed.

4. Reduce the heat to medium. Add a lid, leave it slightly ajar to minimise any boiling over. Simmer for 25-30 minutes.

5. In the meantime, you marinate the mince:

   a) Put 1 tbs oyster sauce, 2 tsp cornflour, 2 tbs water into a bowl. Mix into a slurry.

   b) Add the mince.

   c) Mix and massage the mince until the marinade is all absorbed. The cornflour acts to bind the marinade flavours to the meat. It also keeps the meat juicy and tender.

   d) Add 2 tbs vegetable oil to the mince mix.  Mix for 30 secs to incorporate the oil. The oil seals the juices inside the mince and acts to prevent the mince from clumping together later. Set the marinated mince aside until needed later

6. Check the rice for doneness. The rice grains should be quite soft. (If they’re not soft, you’ll need to cook on medium heat for another 10 minutes, as different stovetops have different medium heat levels)

7. Secret step: Whisk the rice and stock for 2-3 minutes to break up the rice grains into smaller fluffier pieces. This is a secret step to make the congee cooking process faster, saving you an extra 30-60 minutes of cooking time.

8.  Increase heat to high. Slowly add the mince over 30-60 seconds, making sure to stir constantly to avoid the meat from clumping together.

9.  Once all the mince is in. Stir for another 1-2 minutes. When the congee returns to boil, it should be ready. Check to make sure all the meat is cooked.

10.  Add ginger and 1 tsp salt. Stir for 30 secs.

11. Turn off the heat. Serve in individual bowls. Add any toppings like extra ginger, fresh or fried spring onions, fresh coriander. Add soy sauce if needed for taste.

12. Enjoy!

Variations:

• Mum sometimes makes a version with black eyed beans and peanuts. She uses ½ cup black eyed beans and ½ cup peanuts (without the skin) and soaks them together in the same bowl overnight. Mum soaks the rice in a different bowl, so she can wash the rice twice as per the recipe. Drain and discard the soaking liquid from the beans and peanuts. Following the recipe, you add the beans and peanuts with the rice in Step 3. Skip the secret step 7, as the textures of the different beans and legumes shine in this version (you don’t want to whisk it into mush). Feel free to use any other dried beans like red kidney beans, mung beans, etc. if you don’t have the black-eyed beans or peanuts available.

• My friend Michelle adds baby spinach in step 9. This adds some lovely pops of green color and extra nutrition to her congee. Her 3-year-old loves eating this!

• Vegetarian version: Use water or vegetable stock as your liquid base. Use sliced mushrooms to replace the mince. Sauté the mushrooms to meld the flavours together. Add the sautéed mushroom at the end as toppings and mix into the congee. Enjoy!

• Different ratios of liquid to rice:

  • If you prefer a thick porridge-like consistency: use 1 cup rice to 5 cups liquid.

  • If you prefer something between soup and porridge consistency: use 1 cup of rice to 8 cups of liquid.