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
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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.
- In another bowl, you can remove the rest of the ingredients. I usually just toss it all.
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
- Once your congee is ready, add your favorite toppings. And now you’re ready to mangiate!
