Thanks Charlie. Approximately how long does it take? I had this idea that I could stick the ingredients in a crockpot and wake up to fresh congee the next morning.
um. i’d say about a hour tops.
You can definitely slow cooker it. Probably 8 hours on low should do the trick. But I think slow cooker congee tends to be soupier.
Love it, especially with century egg.
My mom used to make turkey juk with turkey leftovers. yum.
If you have one of those Zojirushi rice cookers, there is also a porridge setting (same thing). I find that setting makes thick juk. One can adjust the water level with some experimentation to your desired thickness level. Zojirushi porridge plus the timer setting = easy-mode.
Also, it should be obvious, but the type of rice used makes a difference.
If you’re feeling really crafty, you can use chicken stock as part or all of the cooking liquid. That makes my first example of turkey juk really killer.
Arnold makes a really good Arroz Caldo (a Filipino version of congee) about once a month. Usually chicken or tripe. And ginger of course.
I love the flavors of ginger and sesame oil in congee. Anything else is a bonus.
Then a version you might try is Cantonese fish jook.
Typically using a white fish (tilapia, perch, halibut, whatever is convenient for you) fillet, cut in an inch pieces. Ginger, white pepper standard ingredients. Can garnish/cook with anything really. Green onion, preserved duck eggs (pi dan, pei dan), salty eggs (shien dan, ham dan), just no freaking yams. 
One of my favorite garnishes is garlic oil. You just fry some minced garlic to infuse the oil with its flavor and spoon it over the congee.
Not sure this is a Chinese thing. I know the Thais use it with their take on congee (khao tom) which is more like a rice soup than a porridge… oh, and some sliced chilies in fish sauce. That will warm you up on a cold winter morning! ![[wink.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/04707e6a7bbb03e0153e349d8a9270d30e1e9525.gif "wink"){kind=small}
Ah good tip.
One could probably add a twist by adding thai chili peppers in the frying oil to get color and some heat. For a numbing effect, one could add sichuan peppercorns to the chilis too.
Gonna try this week.
Made my first batch of congee today and it turned out reasonably well. Didn’t have any ginger in the house so it was seasoned with salt, pepper and sesame oil. The chicken I added fell apart in the congee…really good. May be making more tomorrow.
White pepper?
I didn’t have white pepper, so I used black. I know white is standard, but the black worked fine and frankly, I generally prefer the taste of black to white anyway. I think I’ll grab some ginger at the store tomorrow because this is way too delicious.
FWIW, made congee again last night and had it for dinner. I probably should have paid a bit closer attention to the water/rice ratio, but this congee was a bit soupier, which I like. Also, it was greatly helped by the addition of the ginger. I took a small knob (about 1.5 ounces), peeled it, and cut it into slices. I like the extra dimension that it provides.
Absolutely love this stuff. Best ingredient for me is BBQ duck. Agree with the fish idea, though. As kids we used to put very thin slices of raw fish on the bottom of our bowls, ladle piping hot congee into the bowl, and slurp away (lots of chopped spring onions and white pepper too, btw). By the time we got down to the fish, it was fully cooked.
Tail end of intestinal flu, apparently caught while flying back from
Chicago. Juk was a lifesaver, although I still lost five pounds.
Feel better Victor.
We had it last night for dinner. It was the first time that Linda made it in a pressure cooker…it was delicious.
Thank you.
Ultimate comfort food.
Childhood memory: Fresh rockfish caught in Chesapeake Bay, sliced thin as can be. Mom and Dad make jook (juk) and place the raw fish in a single layer at the bottom of each soup bowl. Pour in steaming hot jook with bit of spring onions, cha gua, white pepper, drops of soy. Wait five minutes and start eating; the fish is cooked by the time you get to the bottom. Oh my.
Cheers,
Doug
The secret to this dish is BROKEN RICE. Buy it at an Asian market or make it at home. To make it just wash your rice in a large bowl and then drain all of the water. Let it dry for an hour. Drying the rice puts small cracks in each grain. Then you need to break the rice up by hand or pulsed in a blender. This makes all the difference in terms of texture.
Thank you. Great idea.
As a time-saver, one can also soak the rice overnight in the refrigerator. The water
saturation, apparent as the rice turns from translucent to opaque white, accomplishes
this same grain-breakage effect.