Recipe: Congee

Ingredients:

For the rice:

  • 3.70 liters water
  • 2-3 chicken stock cubes
  • 350 g long grain rice
  • 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt

For the pork

  • 400 g pork loin
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Other ingredients

  • 50 g ginger, peeled (use a spoon)
  • 2 stalks scallion, cut into 1/4 cm short pieces, marinate with some soy sauce
  • 3 century eggs, cut in pieces

Instructions

For the rice

  1. Rinse the rice with water twice. Soak the rice with water for three hours. Remove excess water. Mix the rice with two teaspoons of vegetable oil and one teaspoon of salt. Put it in a container and store it in the freezer overnight. The oil helps to achieve a silky texture of the porridge.

For the pork

  1. Cut the pork loin into about ten cm length, about 2cm thick,
  2. Marinate the pork loin. Put it in a ziplock bag or plastic container and keep it in the chiller for 12 hours.
  3. Rinse the excess salt on the surface of the meat. Blanch the meat for a few seconds in boiling water to remove impurities and blood.

For other ingredients

  1. Cut the century eggs into small pieces.
  2. Cut the ginger into fine julienne.
  3. Cut the scallion into 2-3 mm short sections. Marinate with some light soy sauce.

To cook the porridge

  1. Fill a pot with 3.6 liters of water. Bring it to boil. Add 2-3 chicken stock-cubes.
  2. Add the marinated pork (after blanching) to the porridge.
  3. Add the frozen rice into the boiling water over high heat. Keep the water boiling vigorously and stir continuously for about ten minutes.
  4. Add half of the ginger, and 2 century eggs.
  5. Reduce to low heat and simmer until the rice grains breaking up and the texture of the porridge becomes smooth and silky.
  6. Remove the pork. Shred the pork into small pieces, and put it back in the dish.

To serve

  1. Place remaining ginger, marinated scallion, and century egg in bowls, and add to taste.
  2. Add a dash of ground white pepper and a few drops of sesame oil. Serve