Basic Congee Recipe (粥)

I am on my own with three children this weekend, and the toddler is in full-on toddler mode. When I was away a couple of weekends ago, my husband solved mealtimes by taking them out to eat for every meal that wasn't breakfast (and they loved it). Last night I started my easy planning by making a batch of congee for lunch, using the slow cooker.

Congee is a mainstay of the Chinese diet, for those regions which are rice-based. It is typically eaten at breakfast, although it can also be found on dim sum menus as a dish for lunch. In poorer communities, congee would be eaten as an alternative to a bowl of rice, as a smaller amount goes further. It's also the food that our mothers would cook us if we were unwell. It would start off plain, then you might get a bit of white fish and you knew you were on the mend when the fried cubes of luncheon pork appeared.

In its simplest form it is a rice/water "porridge". It can be flavoured with all sorts of things, and I find it a useful way of getting rid of leftovers. Typical additions might include:

Meat and fish: Bacon ribs, the leftovers of a ham shank, cooked chicken, fish (although only added at the end), beef slices, scallops (also conpoy (幹瑤柱) - a dried scallop to be used in small doses), pork slices.... anything really. Just beware of anything with small bones, as everything will fall apart during the cooking process

Vegetables: Sweetcorn, chopped carrots, peas, green veg, pickled vegetables

Other: Century egg (皮蛋), that green and black egg which is definitely an acquired taste, but makes one of my favourite congee dishes of all, 皮蛋瘦肉粥 - congee with lean pork and century egg, salty duck eggs, fried peanuts

For ultimate ease, you can put all the congee ingredients into a slow cooker at night and it will be ready by morning. If you don't have a slow cooker, you can make it in about 90 minutes in a pan on the hob.

The rice:water ratio is around 1:10. For 2 medium bowls of congee, I would use one handful of rice and 4 rice-bowls of water.

Ingredients

• 2 handfuls of rice
• 8 rice-bowls of water
• 1 large slice of peeled raw ginger, about 2mm thick
• 1 dried conpoy, soaked in hot water and broken apart
• 1-2 bacon ribs (I had some salted cooked chicken in the freezer, but I'd normally use bacon ribs)
• 1 corn on the cob
• Salt or chicken powder to season

Serves 2-3

Instructions (Slow Cooker)

• Put everything in the slow cooker and place on low for 8-10 hours
• Separate the corn from the cob by running a knife down the sides, and put the corn to the congee
• Remove the bones from the bacon ribs, shred the meat and return to the congee
• Season with salt (or chicken powder) to taste
• Garnish with spring onion, roasted peanuts and white pepper and serve with fried youtiao (油條) dough sticks 

Instuctions (Hob)

• Put everything into a large pan (the water should come to no more than halfway up the pan), and bring to a rolling boil
• Boil for 5 minutes, then turn the heat to its lowest setting. cover and simmer for 90 minutes - stir occasionally to prevent the congee sticking to the bottom
• Separate the corn from the cob by running a knife down the sides, and return the corn to the congee
• Remove the bones from the bacon ribs, shred the meat and return to the congee
• Season with salt (or chicken powder) to taste
• Garnish with spring onion, roasted peanuts and white pepper and serve with fried youtiao (油條) dough sticks

Congee with Leftover Chicken and Sweetcorn