Chicken Congee

The cold has finally broken! And I’m FINALLY feeling back to my normal self. I probably sound like a huge complainer, but I literally almost never get anything more than a slight cold that lasts a day or two. So for me to be out of commission for over a week… now that really was a curveball.

But I managed — and I finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. And here I am, back to my annoying old self 🙂

When I was a kid, like all kids, I used to the occasional cold/fever. And when that happened, Super Dad came to the rescue with the most delicious congee in the world. Now, I don’t know if I live up to my dad’s name, but I also know how to make a bomb ass pot of congee. And guess what? It’s actually one of the easiest things to make — and one of the best things in the world to eat when you’re sick. Ultimate Chinese comfort food ❤ I swear it has medicinal properties (maybe not).

Now, with congee, you can take a lot of shortcuts. For instance, I like to make my own chicken broth, but you can take a couple shortcuts:

• store-bought chicken broth
• Rotisserie chicken and shred it at home

If you choose to make the chicken broth… I promise it will be worthwhile. But here’s a little secret, I take a shortcut by using a pressure cooker to make the broth. It cuts the time… a lot!

What You’ll Need

For the chicken broth

• a whole chicken (3.5 – 4 lbs), giblets and all removed
• 2 large white onion, peeled
• 1 bunch of scallions, roughly chopped
• 1 whole head of garlic, crushed with hands and with skin left on
• 2-inch piece of ginger, skin on
• 4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 13 cups water

For the congee

• 12 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup jasmine rice

Congee Toppings

• cooked and shredded chicken
• chopped scallions
• black pepper
• sesame oil
• fried onions
• soft-boiled egg

Note: For this round, I opted only for chicken, scallions, black pepper and sesame oil.

How You’ll Do It

For the chicken broth

1. Add chicken, onions, scallions, garlic, ginger, salt, pepper and water in the pressure cooker. (If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you can just use a large pot on the stove.)
2. On the soup/broth option, pressure cook on high for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. (If you are doing this on the stove, bring all the ingredients to a boil, and then simmer for 3 hours.)
3. Once you’ve finished the cooking process, remove the chicken and place the chicken into a large bowl. Let it cook for at least 30-45 minutes, and then shred the chicken. Once shredded, I like to keep it separate from the congee and add it on a per bowl basis. You can also add it the congee, too.
4. In another bowl, you can remove the rest of the ingredients. I usually just toss it all.
5. Once everything is out of the broth, pass the broth through a fine sieve… twice. That ensures a super duper clean broth.

For the congee

1. In a large pot, boil 12 cups of broth. Once the broth is boiling, add the 1 cup of rice and lower the heat to medium low.
2. Let the congee cook for about an hour. You’ll know it’s ready when the rice expands and the congee is thick in consistency… like a porridge or oatmeal. During this process, be sure to stir the congee every 15 minutes. This ensures that the rice does just stick to the bottom of the pot.
3. Once your congee is ready, add your favorite toppings. And now you’re ready to mangiate!