Congee

I learned about congee, the Asian rice porridge, in the bitter heart of a Chicago winter. Plus, I had a cold; I was as congested as that same city’s freeways.

A friend took me to Chinatown for a bowl of congee, swirled with searingly spicy chili oil. That congee opened the dampers - and stoked the furnace.

My evergreen recommendation against colds inside and out is congee. It is as simple as two plus two and has a millennia-rich history of working its magic on folk who are frozen or ill.

The word “congee” is originally from Tamil (kanji), and the dish goes by many names throughout Southeast Asia; as a result, it may be known by these names in restaurants hereabouts owned by cooks from these same places.

It’s called “juk” or “jook” by the Cantonese and Koreans; “zhou” in Mandarin; “khao tom” by the Thai; and, of course, “kanji” at some Indian eateries that might offer it.

The key to cooking congee is to use both regular as well as sticky rices, to leave them be atop the stove for a couple of hours so that their kernels very much break down, then to offer add-ins or toppings from a huge raft of possibilities, each dependent on its purpose at table: hot and spicy things to clear passageways and spark spirits; leftovers to use up foods needing one last go-around; and green and other colorful things for the way that they both lift flavor as well as sparkle eyes.

BSJ’s Congee, serves 4-6

Ingredients
3/4 cup jasmine or other “regular” white rice
1/2 cup glutinous, “sweet” or “sushi” rice
8 cups water or thin chicken stock
1 small to medium head Napa cabbage, cored and outer leaves removed, and sliced as if cole slaw
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1-2 teaspoons Kosher or other non-iodized salt
Good pinch freshly ground white pepper
1 2-inch knob ginger, peeled and sliced, and cut into matchsticks
Garnishes (scallions, thinly sliced; Sriracha sauce or other spicy chili sauces or oils; roasted peanuts, crushed; hard-cooked eggs, chunked; medium-firm tofu, cubed; leftover cooked shellfish, fish, pork or chicken, cubed or shredded)

Directions
Put both the rices into a large pot or bowl and rinse them in at least three changes of water, using your hands to slush them around, until the water runs mostly clear.

Put the rice into a large pot and add the water or stock. Cover, bring to a boil, and then lower the heat to low or medium-low, leaving the lid on a crack, and cook very slowly for 2 hours, stirring once in a while to keep the rice from adhering to the bottom of the pot. The cooked, broken-up rice should come to resemble a thick porridge.

To serve, bring the congee back to a good bubbly boil, add the cabbage, soy and fish sauces, salt and pepper, and the ginger matchsticks, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes.

Serve very hot, in bowls with whatever garnishes you set out for adding to the congee.