Chicken congee
Congee is a superstar in Hong Kong but is eaten throughout China and beyond. Often enjoyed at breakfast or even at other times of the day.
Ingredients
- 80 g Thai jasmine rice
- 100 g chicken (thigh otherwise breast)
- 1,5 l chicken stock≈ 1,5 kg
- 1 spring onion
- 2 slices ginger
- 1 dash black sesame oil
- salt
- white pepper
Marinade
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp chicken stock
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
Method
- 1Rinse the rice twice, drain then set aside (wet) for 3 hours or even overnight.
- 2Cut the chicken into 0.5 cm strips. Mix the marinade ingredients with the meat. Set aside for at least 15 minutes.
- 3Cut the ginger slices into julienne strips and finely slice the spring onion. Set aside.
- 4In a saucepan, add the chicken stock and, over high heat, bring to a boil. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring.
- 5Lower to low heat (simmering), cook for 80 minutes, stirring just occasionally (more often towards the end).
- 610 minutes before the end of cooking, salt, pepper and especially taste to adjust the seasoning. Add the ginger and the chicken.
- 7Add the spring onion and sesame oil just before serving.
Notes
Rinsing twice (no more) cleans the rice without getting rid of all the starch. Setting it aside wet will help speed up cooking, the rice grains will break down more quickly. The cornstarch will keep the chicken nice and juicy. The oil has the same effect and also prevents the pieces from sticking to each other. You can absolutely let the chicken marinate for as long as the rice takes to cook. In that case, cover with film and put in the fridge. A ratio (1:15) of 1 portion of rice to 15 portions of chicken stock may seem like a lot but it's what's needed to end up with the right consistency at the end of cooking. Stop cooking when you've reached the desired consistency. You can speed up cooking (gain 30 minutes) by heating at a higher temperature but you'll then need to stay in front of the saucepan to stir constantly. I prefer to season at the end of cooking for this dish because with the reduction due to water evaporation, salt would tend to concentrate if used at the beginning. It is possible to freeze the pre-soaked rice to halve the cooking time; but the final result is a little less good.
