Brrrrrrrrrrr…… its cold! This has been one of the coldest winters that California has experienced in a long time. What a better way to warm the soul than with a hot bowl or rice porridge also known as jook or congee. A bowl of hot rice porridge is comfort food to an Asian-American. However, as a college student, I do not have the all the time in the world to boil large pieces of meat until they become tender and turn into broth. With the help of the store, and I have created a quick and simple rice porridge recipe. I have made dish using pork or chicken on separate occasions. In this video demonstration, I am using ground chicken however, if you prefer to use pork, you can substitute the ground chicken by using ground pork. See video demonstration below!
Ingredients:
1 cup of white rice (long or short grain)
4 to 8 cups of chicken broth
1 lb. of ground chicken or pork
Fish sauce (or soy sauce)
1 tablespoon of White pepper (or fine ground black pepper)
1 tablespoon of sugar
2 inches of Ginger
Optional Ingredients:
Cilantro
Green onions
Fried Shallots
Prep:
Wash and soak one cup of white rice (long or short grain) at least a couple of hours. Please note that using long grain rice will yield to a larger portion while using short grain rice will yield to a smaller portion. I prefer to soak my rice overnight. If you do not have time to soak the rice, you can make this rice porridge as is however, it will take a bit longer for the rice to cook and break down. If you have left over white rice, you can use that instead and the porridge will cook faster. Use whatever you have on hand.
Instructions:
After your rice has been washed and soaked, add rice to a large pot. Fill the pot with four to eight cups of chicken broth. How thick or thin you want your rice porridge depends on the amount of liquids you add to it. I found that I like my rice porridge on the thicker side so I find that six cups of liquids is enough for me. I usually add four cups of chicken broth with two cups of water to my rice. Bring the rice and chicken broth to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer.
While the rice is simmering away in the pot, add two inches of grated ginger, one tablespoon of fine white or black pepper, and one tablespoon of white sugar to one pound of ground chicken or pork. Add in a few dashes of fish sauce, I used six to twelve dashes. If you do not have fish sauce, you can substitute by using soy sauce. Just note that soy sauce is heavier in depth of flavor than fish sauce. Mix and combine the ingredients with the meat mixture then form meat balls.
Bring the rice back to a boil and once the rice has puffed up, add the meatballs into the pot with the rice and chicken broth. Since the rice is mixture will start to get stick, make sure you keep stirring the pot to prevent it from sticking and burning to the bottom of the pot. Once the meatballs are cooked through and the consistency of the rice porridge is cooked to your preference, turn off the heat. Taste the rice porridge for seasoning. If it is too salty, add a little bit of chicken broth or water and bring it back to a boil. If it is not salty enough, add a bit of fish sauce or soy sauce to the rice porridge. Do not add salt, adding salt will make this dish too salty.
Add some freshness to the porridge by adding cilantro, green onions, or fried shallots. You can add whatever you like. I have seen people add a hard boil egg, fried garlic chips, sesame oil, and so much more to their rice porridge.
Enjoy!
Ingredients:
1 cup of white rice (long or short grain)
4 to 8 cups of chicken broth
1 lb. of ground chicken or pork
Fish sauce (or soy sauce)
1 tablespoon of White pepper (or fine ground black pepper)
1 tablespoon of sugar
2 inches of Ginger
Optional Ingredients:
Cilantro
Green onions
Fried Shallots
Prep:
Wash and soak one cup of white rice (long or short grain) at least a couple of hours. Please note that using long grain rice will yield to a larger portion while using short grain rice will yield to a smaller portion. I prefer to soak my rice overnight. If you do not have time to soak the rice, you can make this rice porridge as is however, it will take a bit longer for the rice to cook and break down. If you have left over white rice, you can use that instead and the porridge will cook faster. Use whatever you have on hand.
Instructions:
After your rice has been washed and soaked, add rice to a large pot. Fill the pot with four to eight cups of chicken broth. How thick or thin you want your rice porridge depends on the amount of liquids you add to it. I found that I like my rice porridge on the thicker side so I find that six cups of liquids is enough for me. I usually add four cups of chicken broth with two cups of water to my rice. Bring the rice and chicken broth to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer.
While the rice is simmering away in the pot, add two inches of grated ginger, one tablespoon of fine white or black pepper, and one tablespoon of white sugar to one pound of ground chicken or pork. Add in a few dashes of fish sauce, I used six to twelve dashes. If you do not have fish sauce, you can substitute by using soy sauce. Just note that soy sauce is heavier in depth of flavor than fish sauce. Mix and combine the ingredients with the meat mixture then form meat balls.
Bring the rice back to a boil and once the rice has puffed up, add the meatballs into the pot with the rice and chicken broth. Since the rice is mixture will start to get stick, make sure you keep stirring the pot to prevent it from sticking and burning to the bottom of the pot. Once the meatballs are cooked through and the consistency of the rice porridge is cooked to your preference, turn off the heat. Taste the rice porridge for seasoning. If it is too salty, add a little bit of chicken broth or water and bring it back to a boil. If it is not salty enough, add a bit of fish sauce or soy sauce to the rice porridge. Do not add salt, adding salt will make this dish too salty.
Add some freshness to the porridge by adding cilantro, green onions, or fried shallots. You can add whatever you like. I have seen people add a hard boil egg, fried garlic chips, sesame oil, and so much more to their rice porridge.
Enjoy!