The Chicken Congee Recipe Passed Down Generations
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Have You Heard of the Healthiest Comfort Food?
Congee, a recipe beloved for over 3000 years, is a savoury rice porridge that has been boiled down with a larger ratio of liquid and topped with a variety of toppings and seasonings.
The a traditional dish is prepared in varying ways around Asia, and you might have seen it as a menu item at dim sum, where it is brought to the table in on the dim sum trolley, and scooped into bowls for the table, with fried wonton pieces and refreshing spring onions on top.
We call this rice porridge, but it's very different to a Western style rice porridge, so you can think of it more as a noodle soup or stew. It is a beloved favourite that is tied to tradition, typically served as a healthy breakfast dish. It is easy to digest and low in calories. The benefits of all the ingredients used to cook down congee are passed on in the final dish- think about the fantastic benefits of bone broth, ginger, and whatever toppings your heart desires.
Congee recipes are often passed down generations, like my mother has done for me. It is extremely delicious, and nutritious when prepared with high quality ingredients like I am going to show you today. Best of all, it is super easy to prepare when you follow my family recipe!
What I Love About This Dish
It's hard to beat the classic dim sum congee that is layered with pieces of thousand year old egg, or topped with salted egg and pickles - they were some regular features on my dinner table. The beauty of congee is that it is so versatile, and provides a base for a dish that can be healthy and/or indulgent.
My favourite iteration is the one I am going to show you today- inspired by my Mum's classic "easy" recipe, and using DCF's pasture raised chicken frames, ginger, and Urban Forager organic chicken stock. My favourite topping combination is a traditional style with fried dough - yu tao- (optional), soy sauce and generous amount of white pepper. I have tried this recipe with the same base, with chopped mushrooms added into the mix, different cuts of chicken, and even pork bones and pork meat as a variation. This recipe is full proof and tastes delicious every time.
This was my chicken soup growing up, served in generous bowls when I was feeling sick, or when the weather was cold outside- nothing beats a steaming hot scoop of congee. I'm using DCF chicken frames for the stock and including drum sticks- but it can be incredibly flavourful and economical. Mum used to cook this down with chicken frames and shred the meat into the congee, so there is no need to add more meat if you don't want to. DCF chicken frames have bits of skin and lots of meat that makes it perfect to use for this method.
How to Make Congee Easy
My mum let me in on a secret that allowed me to cook this twice as fast and make it a virtually foolproof set and forget recipe. Congee is traditionally made by simmering the mixture for a longer period of time in a pot, requiring a watchful eye to ensure the starch from the rice boiling is prepared for the correct texture, and not sticking to the bottom of the pot causing a lumpy and burnt mess.
Well, I can tell you congee can be prepared easily with a secure latch rice cooker or pressure cooker, which allows you to let the good times boil, hands free cooking, and come back to a huge pot of steaming deliciousness.
You need to use a rice cooker that closes, this doesn't work with one with a glass pot lid that sits on top because the closed lid gives enough pressure and steam to cook this well. If you don't have one of these magical devices, you can still cook this amazing dish in a pot, over the stovetop. Just make sure to watch the pot carefully and stir gently and frequently as the mixture starts to thicken, to avoid burning the rice.
I will mentioned that this recipe is truly freestyle- I've never measure this and I doubt my mother has either. It is up to you to make this to your preference- I'm providing approximate measurements today for this recipe.
Made fresh using WA produce and regenerative pasture raised chicken from dirtycleanfood.com.au
Serves 6+
Makes a large pot
Ingredients
- 1 nub of fresh ginger- grate or finely chop a few teaspoons for serving, and reserve the rest in a whole
- 1- 1.5 cup/s of broken rice, or white short grain rice
- 8 cups of water
- 2 tbsp of chicken stock concentrate
- 2 pasture raised chicken frames
- 6 pasture raised chicken drumsticks
- white pepper
- salt
- black pepper (fine)
For toppings
- 3 pieces of yu tao- a fried chinese style long dough stick (optional). Use fried pieces of wonton skin as an alternative.
- 3-4 green onion, diced thin
- soy sauce
- white pepper
Shop the Recipe
Essentials
Congee is a savoury rice dish that is prepared in a large variety of ways across Asia
It's a healthy and nutritious, easy to digest dish that is known for its healing properties
You can make a quick and easy version with a latch closure rice cooker or slow cooker
Method
- Directly in your rice cooker pot or crockpot, rinse your rice twice and drain the rinsed water
- To the pot, add the full nub of garlic, 8 cups of water, chicken stock concentrate, and chicken frames. The water should submerge all the ingredients. Ensure the volume of your pot is not too full- it will boil over.
- Turn on your rice cooker and place on standard setting.
- Season drumsticks with salt and pepper and brown the outside of each one, set aside.
- Once the rice cooker has boiled over, open it. The rice grains should be swelling up, but the consistency should still be loose and not gluggy and stodgy. If the congee is sticky and thick, add as much water as the volume of the cooker allows without boiling over. The frames should be cooked through. If they aren't yet, turn back on for another round.
- Once the congee is the correct consistency, pull out the chicken frames. Shred the meat on the frames- be careful as it is very hot.
(Image above: add more water if the rice cooker is ready, and the consistency is like this.)
- Taste the congee and adjust seasoning to your liking if necessary. You can ad more chicken stock concentrate. It is served with soy sauce so be careful not to add too much salty seasoning at this step.
- Place the meat (without the frames), and the drumsticks back into the pot. If you need to add more water but cannot, you should have enough room to do so after you have removed the frames
- Turn the rice cooker on once again, and allow the drumsticks to cook all the way through. Keep the rice cooker on until it is ready once again and monitor the texture is not becoming too thick or thin.
- The congee is ready when the chicken is cooked through and the rice is a creamy, slightly thick texture. Though congee can be enjoyed both thick or thin, it will continue to absorb water and thicken once cooling. You can add more water, stir and reheat to get it to desired consistency
- Remove the nub of ginger and stir the grated ginger through
- To serve, scoop into a bowl with a drumstick, a generous shake of white pepper and drizzle soy sauce on each serving to taste. Sprinkle spring onions and yu tao- enjoy!
Angie
DCF Ecommerce and Marketing Manager Angie is a passionate foodie who's always on the hunt for the next best pastry. Whether is colourful op shop outfits or consciously sourced, regeneratively farmed food, she's a Regen Warrior who dreams of a better future for everyone.
