Chinese Rice Congee Porridge

Chinese congee (? - zhou) needs no introduction. It is probably the most popular breakfast in Asia. There are millions of ways to eat congee - sweet, savory, spicy, sour or just plain, where pretty much anything edible makes a suitable congee ingredient.

I have never made congee, because I wasnt sure how difficult and time consuming its preparation was. And then again - I lived in Asia, where it was impossible not to get a real nice rice porridge any time of the day.

Now that I came back to Denmark again and the weather here is impossible at this time of the year, the idea of a warm breakfast bowl is more than tempting. This morning, I made myself one just like that. Here is my recipe for the most basic one:

CONGEE:
(? - zhou)
RiceWaterAll you need are these two ingredients in ratio of 1:8. Any type of rice can be used - white, brown, black, glutinous, polished or unpolished. You take the call. For a simple congee for one person I use 2 tbsp raw rice.

Soak the rice in water for 2 - 4 hours. Plain white polished needs shorter soaking time than black, brown, glutinous or unpolished rice. Drain well. Transfer into a saucepan together with eight times more water. Bring to boil, reduce the heat and cook for about 30 minutes. You will see that the porridge will get very gooey and lovey smelling. This is when its done.

Simple as that, the topping is up to you.

For a savoury variety, cook the porridge with some chicken or beef or top the ready made porridge with soy sauce, chilli sauce, dried fish or sautéed vegetables.

For a sweet variety, I recommend soaking and cooking the rice together with some black, red or mung beans and top the ready porridge with a dollop of brown sugar. Some fresh or dried fruits can be added.

I soaked / cooked mine together with red dates ????and lotus seeds????? and added a spoonful of brown sugar and some wolf berries ?????as topping.

There are no limits to my porridge imagination :-)

Enjoy!