Congee

Not feeling peachy at all today… in fact, I am quite sick… Headache, stuffy and runny nose, sexy voice, achy body, I might even be burning a temperature... so I took advantage of one of my “work from home” days this year… and yes I did work! I just didn’t drive to the office, spread germs, and endanger the lives of the people on the road…


This recipe is excellent when you are not feeling well – so simple, your father / husband / boyfriend / brother or anybody can make… LOL…


Source:
My mom

Ingredients:
1 cup of rice (you want to use Japanese or any short grain rice for its stickiness)
1 pot of water (the ratio should be roughly 1:5 – all depends how “thick” you want your congee)
Salt to season (skip it if you are really feeling blah… you can’t taste it anyway…)
Pork bones (or you can use a medium chunk of pork meat – again, whatever you have, you can even use chicken or beef if you don’t have pork – pork bones are cheap and I usually have them in my fridge for stock, soup, etc.)
Preserved duck egg (optional)

Directions:
1. Lightly season pork bones with salt. Set aside for 5-10 minutes.
2. Rinse your rice.
3. Boil a small pot of water and a big pot of water.
4. Put the seasoned pork in the small pot when the water boils and let it cook for about 2-3 minutes (boil longer if you have larger chunks of meat). (Note: this step is to get rid of the blood and other impurities of the meat – so don’t be lazy and skip!)
5. Drain and wash #3 with cold water and then transfer the meat to the big pot of water (this pot has to be boiling as well).
6. Cover the pot and boil over medium heat for 20-30 minutes. (Check on it periodically and stir.)
7. Take out the meat, put #2 in.

8. Put a chopstick on each side of the pot, cover the pot, and boil over medium-low heat for about 45-60 minutes (or until the rice splits). (Note: the reason for the chopstick is to let the rice circulate in the pot but not overflow – you congee will not taste the same if you don’t do this)
9. Check on your congee and stir lightly. Do not let it overflow!! Once you reach to this consistency (see picture), your congee is ready to serve.

Optional:
10. Peel the preserved duck egg, quartered and put it in #9. Cook for another 15-20 minutes. (You don’t want to add to soon because the egg would melt and you won’t be able to taste it.)

There are a lot of things you can eat with congee (e.g. the radish cake)… but when you are sick, I don’t recommend any because you are really supposed to let your digestive system rest…