Chicken Congee
- Makes
- 3 to 4 servings
- Time
- 2¼ hours
- From
- Fuchsia Dunlop, adapted by Sara Bonisteel, NYT Cooking
Congee is regarded as the ultimate Chinese comfort food, according to the author Fuchsia Dunlop. This recipe for ji zhou or chicken congee, from her book on Jiangnan regional cuisine, is dead simple and satisfying. Serve it with chicken and soy sauce for a late-night Shanghai-style snack. —Sara Bonisteel
Ingredients
Green amounts are scaled. Anything else is as written, so adjust it yourself.
Method
Amounts and times written inside the steps are for the original quantity.
- Rinse and drain the rice.
- Put the rice in a pot with the chicken stock and bring to boil. Give the rice a good stir, scraping the bottom of the pan to prevent sticking, then lower the heat and half-cover the pan. Simmer gently for , stirring every , until the grains have burst open and you have a thick congee. Keep an eye on the pot to make sure the rice doesn’t stick to the bottom. Toward the end of cooking, when the stock has become integrated with the rice and is the consistency of oatmeal, season lightly with salt to taste.
- Serve the congee with a sprinkling of soy sauce, spring onion and ginger and a few drops of sesame oil to taste.
Tips
The congee will continue to thicken as it cools and can be thinned with additional chicken stock if desired.