E2 EZ EE THE WASHINGTON POST.WEDNESDAY, MAY 25 , 2022
says. “One message I want to get
across is that I think some
people think Chinese food is
intimidating. But like any home
cooking, there are no real rules
with congee. It’s your kitchen, it’s
your rules!”This is from our Eat Voraciously
newsletter, which delivers a quick
dinner recipe four days a week,
Monday through Thursday. Sign up at
http://wapo.st/evnewsletter.into a pesto or blistered in a hot
pan — fresh peas, herbs and a
squeeze of lemon juice.
In the summer, corn is ideal
on congee, either simply steamed
kernels or a puree of fresh corn,
swirled into each bowl.
Quartered cherry tomatoes and
hard-boiled eggs? Fried eggplant
and zucchini? Tiny, just-cooked
shrimp? Yes, yes and yes.
“Growing up, congee was
never served the same way,” Liuyear egg, salted duck egg or
chile-fermented tofu. But the
possibilities are unlimited.
“When I was a kid, we would
each have our bowl of congee,
and then a little dish of
fermented bean curd. We’d take
a spoonful of congee and then
use our chopsticks to pick off
some of the fermented bean
curd,” Liu says. To day, she loves it
with a drizzle of soy sauce and
pickled mustard greens or
kimchi.
“But you can use whatever you
like or have on hand. Leftover
duck or leftover Thanksgiving
turkey are always good in cooler
months,” Liu says, also noting
that you could rehydrate dried
mushrooms, use that liquid to
cook the congee, and saute the
mushrooms to serve on top.
For a springtime congee, she
suggests sauteed or pickled
green garlic or ramps — blitzednames around the world, there
are also an endless variety of
ways to make it. “You can make it
with plain water or any kind of
stock ... you can vary its flavor
with spices, dried roots, other
grains, vegetables,” Liu tells me
by phone from Boston, where
she’s completing a surgical
residency. Congee can be eaten
plain, but it’s almost always
topped with a few savory tidbits
before serving.
Her congee recipe is meant to
be a base that home cooks can
play around with, adding or
subtracting liquid to achieve
their ideal texture, augmenting
with other grains or vegetables
for flavor, and finally topping
with a variety of proteins and
pickled, preserved or fresh
vegetables.
In her book, Liu suggests
topping your congee with
pickled vegetables, a thousand-Among the many recipes in
the book, almost half feature rice
in some form. There are
pumpkin rice cakes with red
bean paste, rice-encrusted pork
ribs steamed in lotus leaves,
sticky rice rolls filled with black
sesame seeds, and many others.
But one of the simplest rice
recipes is for zhou or xi fan —
often called by its Anglicized
name, congee.
A simple rice porridge, in its
most basic iteration, it’s a
combination of rice and water in
a ratio of about 1 part rice and
anywhere from 6 to 12 parts
water. The rice is boiled and
simmered until the grains
release all of their starch,
thickening the water as they fall
apart.
Known as juk or jook in Korea,
bubur in Indonesia, lugaw in the
Philippines, teochew in
Singapore and dozens of otherPierced by
winding rivers
and dotted with
ponds and lakes,
the Jiangnan
region in China’s
lower Yangtze
area is famously
the home of
Shanghai, the
country’s biggest
city. But Jiangnan
is just as well-known for its
verdant land and fruitful waters.
“The first time I heard
Jiangnan referred to as yu mi zhi
xiang — the ‘Land of Fish and
Rice’ — was as my family and I
sped along a small road by Ta ihu,
‘Lake Ta i,’ with a beautiful golden
field of rice swaying gently with
the breeze on one side,” writes
Betty Liu in her gorgeous
cookbook, “My Shanghai:
Recipes and Stories From a City
on the Water.”
G. Daniela
Galarza
EAT
VORACIOUSLY
Congee is simple, and adaptable to any season
Congee
4 servings
Think of this recipe, adapted from author Betty Liu’s “My
Shanghai,” as a guide to congee, traditionally served for breakfast in
China. Use more or less broth or water for a looser or denser
porridge, add flavorings with the rice or stir them in after it’s done
cooking. Then top the porridge with whatever you have on hand:
pickled mustard greens, kimchi or other vegetables; hard-boiled or
preserved eggs; chile-marinated tofu or shrimp; green garlic pesto;
sauteed mushrooms; poached chicken or leftover turkey.
To make this recipe faster, plan ahead: Rinse the rice briefly in
cool water, drain it and then freeze in a resealable bag. Once frozen,
the water coating the grains will help them break down more
quickly. Boil the frozen rice for just 20 minutes, instead of the full
hour, to achieve the same porridge-like texture.
Active time: 5 mins; Total time: 1 hour
Leftover congee may be refrigerated for up to 1 week.
Dried lily bulbs, dried mung beans, pickled mustard greens,
thousand-year eggs and chile-fermented tofu can be found at Asian
markets or online.
Adapted from “My Shanghai” by Betty Liu (Harper Design, 2021).Ingredients
For the congee
l8 cups water, chicken stock,
mushroom stock or vegetable
stock, plus more as needed
l^3 / 4 cup short- or medium-
grain white rice
For the optional additions
l1 dried lily bulb
l2 tablespoons dried mung
beans, soaked in water
overnight
Suggested optional toppings
lPickled mustard greens or
other pickles
lThousand-year egg or hard-
boiled egg
lChile-fermented or other
tofu
lSoy sauce
lScallionsSteps
lIn a large pot over high heat,
bring the water or stock to aboil. Add the rice, as well as
either or both of the optional
additions, and bring back to a
boil.
lReduce the heat to low, cover
and simmer, stirring periodi-
cally to prevent the rice from
sticking, until the rice grains
have “blossomed,” or opened
up and started to split, and
the congee has a thick,
p orridge-like consistency,
about 45 minutes. Add more
broth or water, if you want a
looser congee. If you want it
thicker, uncover and cook
longer.
lServe with your choice of
toppings, stirred into the con-
gee to flavor it, or added on
top, to be eaten between
spoonfuls of porridge.
Nutrition | Per serving: 128 calories, 2 g
protein, 28 g carbohydrates, 0 g fat, 0 g
saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 2 mg
sodium, 1 g dietary fiber, 0 g sugar
Recipe tested by G. Daniela Galarza;
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