5/12/05 | Chinese Rice Porridge
[ Currently Eating: Soup ]
If you haven’t had this type of porridge before, you may be a bit confused here. When I say porridge, most people think of that as the sludge that Goldilocks ate in the Three Bears’ house - some sort of oatmeal connoction for breakfast.
The porridge I’m talking about is made with rice, and can be plain (basically just rice and water), flavored (either sweet or savory), and contain various different things like stew beef, fish, tofu, vegetables, and pickled items. I live in a community that is predominantly Asian, so I actually see this all the time on menus. Sometimes it’s called porridge, but most frequently I see it listed as “Congee” in Hong Kong style cafes.
I believe there are 3 different kinds. I think that the Taiwanese version is cooked with sweet potatoes in it and the Mandarin (mainland China) version is completely plain with just rice and water. Most of the time people eat other savory side dishes along with the porridge since it’s pretty plain. But the Cantonese (Hong Kong) style version is actually pre-flavored with chicken or fish stock and often contains cooked items in it. Don’t quote me on all this, I think there is a lot of interchange in the styles…
As far as equivalents for other nationalities go, it seems to me like a really watery version of Italian risotto. Whatever it’s called, and whoever makes it, I really like rice porridge.
Some people also call this type of porridge gruel. It’s a way to stretch out rice, wheat, or whatever cooked grain you’d like. I really don’t like the use of the word “gruel”, because besides being associated with something that is fed to starving orphans it reminds me too much of the word GRUE. (For those of you that didn’t play Zork, this is akin to a really ugly troll that will eat you.)
It also sounds an awful lot like “cruel” which it most certainly is not. It is actually quite kind on the stomach. If you are not feeling to well, this is sort of the Asian equivalent of having Chicken Soup. I put a lot of ginger in it as well, which I think is supposed to help with stomach problems.
Ok, so I’m no expert at making this, but this is my version of the Hong Kong style pre-flavored rice porridge:
Chinese Rice Porridge
1-2 cups of cooked rice — $0.15
1 can Chicken Stock — $0.50
Brown Onion (1/8 a $.50 onion) — $0.06
Cilantro or Parsley (1/8 $0.69 bunch) — $0.08
1 inch square of ginger — $0.25
Salt / pepper / water — negligibleTotal: $1.04
You will have to experiment with the ratio of rice to chicken stock in order to produce the type of porridge you like. The above proportions are just guides.
Peel and mince up the ginger and slice up the onion thin. In a medium sized pot pour in chicken stock and about 1 can worth of water and add the brown onion. Bring it to a boil and then let it cook for about 3 minutes more. Add the ginger and cooked rice to the pot, breaking up the rice with a spoon. Turn heat to low and let simmer for about 10-25 minutes, stirring every so often.
The amount of time here is dependent on how “glutinous” you want your porridge to be. It also affects the amount of breakdown in the rice. Some people also chop up the rice to get it finer. Also, be carefull not to add TOO much rice or you’ll end up with a mixture that’s nearly solid. In general, put in less rice than you think you need to, since the rice expands and the released starch will thicken the mixture further.
When you’ve got it to the consistency you want, spoon the mixture into a bowl, throw in the cilantro or parsley (I don’t usually eat this but it gives it a fresh flavor, omit it if you don’t want to) and add salt/pepper to taste and serve.
Be careful, because the mixture will be REALLY hot. I’m not sure of the science but because of the glutinous properties of the porridge it seems to retain heat much better than normal soup. I’m not kidding, you will burn your mouth if you slurp it up to quickly!
Like I said, this can be really good if you’re sick. I like putting even more ginger in it if I’m sick. I’ve also added pieces of white fish like sole or red snapper near then end of cooking (about 5 minutes to the end) for a fuller meal. Also, you can throw in some Chinese mustard greens or pickles for extra flavor as well. Or eat that on the side.
I actually have not tried this with “normal” American rice, such as Uncle Ben’s. I use either Japanese sticky rice or standard Chinese rice, so your experience may vary. The important thing is that it’s a great way to turn your leftover rice into lunch!
Cheap Eats Score: 7/10
May 12th, 2005 at 9:48 am
Make your chicken broth from scratch and you could knock the price down even further. I freeze mine in 1 cup portions so I can pull a cup or two at a time for stuff like this.
May 12th, 2005 at 10:14 am
Ellen - right on! I’ve been meaning to put up some sort of recipe for homemade chicken broth that’s easy and cheap, but have just been listing canned chicken broth for now b/c that’s what most people have. I’ve had varying success w/ chicken broth from scratch.
That’s a good idea to freeze in small portions. Someone recommended me once to freeze chicken stock first in ice cube trays and then store in a ziploc in the freezer…
May 12th, 2005 at 7:13 pm
Instead of chicken stock, use 2 or 3 chicken bouillon cubes and 2 cups water. I buy 25 cubes for a dollar at Dollar General stores. This cuts the cost of the chicken stock from $0.50 to $0.08 or $0.12. I always use bouillon and water whenever a recipe calls for stock.
May 12th, 2005 at 8:47 pm
Earl - I haven’t tried bouillon cubes yet, though I know some people swear by them. How is the taste compared to canned stock? Also, I know that sometimes the cube is mostly salt and/or MSG… I’m not sure if people would try using cubes to make an actual soup or a recipe where the chicken stock is the main thing. But then again, I ain’t too picky so I might try it. =)
But anyhow it sounds like it might be good to have some cubes on hand in the pantry for when you just need a little bit of chicken stock for flavor.
I also have not tried “generic” supermarket brand chicken stock (does that even exist?) but I’ve been meaning to check it out if it’s cheaper. I use the usual Swansons, multipack from CostCo.
May 13th, 2005 at 2:58 am
If you take a sip of stock and then a sip of dissolved boiullon, you will probably find the stock to be tastier and less salty. But used in a recipe I don’t see a big difference. Then again, I don’t have much of a discriminating palate. The brand I use has msg but I’ve never checked the labels on other brands for it. Don’t really care one way or the other, since I haven’t suffered any ill effects from it.
May 13th, 2005 at 9:39 am
Earl - Cool, I will probably try out the bouillon cubes soon. I don’t really mind about the salt in it, but just wondered if would need to adjust recipes if it had a LOT of extra salt. MSG, I don’t really care either … it’s really hard to get away from that in many foods. Though stuff with a lot of MSG tends to give me phlegm. =)
June 17th, 2005 at 6:57 pm
My mom calls this jook. She speaks Cantonese… I think some of my family lives in Hong Kong but I’m pretty sure they lived in mainland China before that. Her recipe sounds kind of like the Hong Kong one though. After Thanksgiving, she uses the leftover turkey bones to flavor it. And she puts peanuts inside too. I think toward the end so they don’t completely dissolve. And we flavor it right before eating with shoyu (soy sauce), sesame oil, cilantro, and I think ginger too.
Anyways, I think this page is cool–with the Asian/Hawai’i stuff! (I was born in and have lived mostly all of my years in Hawai’i).
June 17th, 2005 at 10:29 pm
Robyn - hey yeah, i have totally heard it called Jook before. The funny thing is that I do have the same after-Thanksgiving porridge that you are talking about, nearly every year! My mother-in-law (who is Chinese) takes the leftover congealed turkey juices and flavors the porridge with it… her turkey already has shoyu taste so it comes out pretty similar I think!
I’ve only lived on the mainland but I’ve been to the Big Island quite a few times because I still have relatives there. Many have moved over here though..
February 8th, 2006 at 4:05 am
most chinese fed their toddlers with this porridge . We add mince meat n veg to the porridge. To make it thicker , add 2 tbsp of oats when it come to a boil.
May 3rd, 2006 at 5:14 pm
my mom and grandma makes what we call gee yok jook in cantonese. it consists of 1000 year old egs [the yummy black eggs], chopped pieces of pork, and topped off with gree onions of cilantro. it’s become a comfort food i miss a lot when I am away at college.
May 5th, 2006 at 8:59 am
jade - that’s interesting about the oats… so they add it only for the toddlers porridge, or for the grownups too?
tammy - oh yeah 1000 year old eggs, hehe! haven’t had that in a long while…