Quick and easy

“A type of rice porridge popular in many Asian countries. Porridge is thick rice largely disintegrated after prolonged cooking in water. In some cultures, congee is eaten primarily as a breakfast food or late supper; in others, it is eaten as a substitute for rice at other meals.”

Every thursday morning, at my grandparents house back in Perth, it has become tradition for my grandpa to prepare porridge for breakfast. So whenever I make this dish, it brings me back to the times i used to spend the night at there’s and look forward to the smell of cooked congee, served with century egg and mince pork balls with fried dough sticks (char kway/youtiao).

You will need:

1 small piece of ginger
1 cup jasmine rice
3-4 spring onion
2-3 fresh chillies
2-3 century eggs/black egg
2 char kway/youtiao
1 packet mince pork
Fried onion
Salt
White pepper

Start off by thinly slicing a little bit of ginger, adding one cup of jasmine rice and a cup or two of water into your pot. Add a teaspoon of salt, covering it with a lid, leaving the rice to boil then simmer on medium to high heat. While the rice is cooking, prepare the garnishing by heating the char kway/youtiao till it’s crisp and cut them into small pieces, slicing the century eggs, cut the spring onions into thin rings and cutting red chillies seasoned with light soya sauce. For the congee, reduce heat to low and gently simmer, stirring, until rice is softened, broken down, and mixture is creamy and the consistency of porridge, 60 to 75 minutes. Add water if consistency is too thick as it cooks. With the mince pork, season it with white pepper and salt before rolling it into small balls, cook pork until cooked through and browned. When porridge is ready, stir in pork and season to taste with salt and white pepper. Ladle into bowls and top with shallots, fried onion, century egg, red chilli with soya sauce and char kway.