Comfort Food: Chicken Congee / Chicken & Rice Porridge

The World Cup is over and. we. lost. :(

Pain like this can only go away with the best of the best of comfort foods so the first thing I did the following day was to ransack our pantry. And the idea that came to mind – and fruition – was this: chicken and rice congee!

If Westerners have their ‘chicken soup for the soul’ remedy, then I do believe we Asians can counter this with our own ‘chicken congee’ cure. It sure works for me!

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken*
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp garlic
1 big carrot (halved)
1 big onion (halved)
a handful of coriander
4 tbsp fish sauce

* For this specific recipe, I really only used half the boiled chicken. (For the other half, I made a chicken potato salad, recipe to follow.)

100 grams plain white rice
75 grams glutinous rice
parsley or chives for garnishing
toasted garlic for garnishing
lemon edged for garnishing

Procedure:

1. Clean and then cut the chicken in half. Use kitchen paper to remove excess liquids.
2. Heat some olive oil on a heavy-bottomed pot big enough to fit the chicken halves.
3. Saute the garlic, ginger and onion until the latter is translucent.
4. Put the chicken pieces in and pour hot water until the meat is submerged.



5. Add the carrot and fish sauce. (No need for salt as fish sauce is already salty.)
6. Boil the chicken for 30-45 minutes. If there’s considerably less water, add a little at a time (instead of pouring a whole pitcher of water in.)
7. Once cooked, lift the chicken out and set aside to cool.
8. Next, puree the broth. Thanks to the carrot, the congee will take on a nice orangish color.
9. Bring the chicken broth back to a boil and then add the glutinous rice and plain white rice.
10. Simmer until the rice is cooked (10-15 minutes).
11. While waiting for the rice, cut and flake the chicken.
12. Remove the chicken breasts and use them for whatever dish you want. (Or you can use the whole chicken and simply increase the amount of the ingredients above.)
13. Cut off the chicken wings and drumsticks and keep them intact. Flake the rest of the chicken.
14. Once the rice is ‘almost done’ add the flaked chicken, whole chicken wings and drumsticks.



15. Simmer on low for 5-10 minutes, making sure the rice is cooked and the chicken well heated through.
16. If you find the congee too thick, you can add some water. Again, do this a little at a time instead of pouring a whole glass of water in as this will dilute the taste.
17. In the meantime, peel about 8 garlic cloves and slice them thinly.
18. Heat some olive oil and fry the garlic until it turns a nice pale golden color. (Make sure the oil is not too hot so you don’t burn the garlic.)



19. Serve the congee piping hot with toasted garlic on top, a squeeze of lemon juice, and fresh parsley or chives.

Enjoy!

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