Yummr

LOLBLOG

Beans: The Musical Fruit.

Ahem.






Beans, beans, the musical fruit.
The more you eat, the more you toot.
The more you toot, the better you feel.
So eat your beans in every meal.




Thank you.

Archives for Apr 2008

Congee (jook)

Congee (jook)
It's what's for breakfast...and dinner sometimes too.  And I guess lunch if you're adventurous.  Not for brunch though, what are you, crazy?

Congee is rice that's been cooked in a lot of liquid (water or broth) for a long time (up to a few hours) until it becomes creamy; almost like an oatmeal.  I personally don't like eating it for breakfast, because good jook takes a real long time to cook, and the stuff served for breakfast usually wasn't cooked long enough.  An ideal consistency of jook should be rich and creamy with a light sweet taste.

 

Your plain vanilla jook is just rice with water.  Here's the basic recipe:
Steam up some rice, add water, bring to a boil SLOWLY* and let simmer.  Stir occasionally.  Add more water if necessary.  Cook until creamy or at a consistency you desire.  Season with white pepper, garnish with chopped green onions and/or cilantro.

*DO NOT LET IT OVERCOOK
The first time I tried making it, I heated it too quickly and burnt some of the rice at the bottom.  Not only do you have to discard the entire batch because the smell gets in all of it, but it is an absolute pain to get burnt rice off a pot.

 

Serve with Chinese pickled cucumbers, Chinese shredded dried pork, Chinese fried onions, boiled/fried eggs, or other various meats and vegetables.  Use soy sauce for dipping your meats/veggies.

 

For a more advanced version, cook with a broth instead of water, and serve with the respective meat/vegetable.  For example, use chicken broth and serve sliced/shredded chicken dipped in soy sauce.  I highly suggest using ginger with the chicken broth as well.

If you wish, you can throw the meat/veggies in with the rice/broth as it's cooking; no need to set it aside.  You can serve it as almost a stew.

 

Here's a picture of some jook with good consistency, garnished with green onions, and Chinese fried onions (the brown stuff):

 

Suggested meats: chicken, fish, pork (and preserved duck egg), sliced beef, seafood (squid/crab/etc), duck, whole boiled eggs, or top with a fried egg.  Anything light or thinly sliced.

Suggested veggies: anything you can steam, boil, or pickle.  Steamed spinach on the side is always good.  Some places throw in peanuts.

Also if you can get a hold of it, dip some fried dough in the jook:

 

 

Posted Apr 9, 2008 by tommy_t | Add a comment | Share It

View Archives