Simple Ginger Congee
High winds in Melbourne during the springtime herald the onset of hay fever season. My eyes itch, my sinuses throb and I sneeze, repeatedly. Desperately in need of nurturing, I start thinking about soup, chicken soup.
I made my perfect roast chicken, charcoal roasted in my kettle BBQ last week. The skin was crisp, the breast moist and tender. This is my death row dish!
The remainder of the cold roast chicken was added to risotto primavera. With the chicken bones and juices that had collected on the carving dish I made a small pot of stock, scented with cassia bark, Szechuan peppercorns and star anise. There was just enough to make two generous bowls of congee.
While the rice was simmering in the stock with the ginger, I collected Vietnamese mint and garlic chives from the herb garden and chopped them with some coriander (cilantro) leaves to scatter over the congee. Soft boiled farm fresh eggs completed the dish.
A cross between savoury rice porridge and thick chicken soup, a bowl of congee leaves me feeling as if I’ve just had a big warm nourishing internal hug.
I feel better already!
1 litre of homemade unseasoned chicken stock
3 cups cooked basmati or jasmine rice
25g fresh ginger roughly chopped
2 soft boiled eggs
2 tablespoons dried shrimps
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon tamari
Coriander, garlic chives, Vietnamese mint
Extra tamari to taste.
Put the stock, ginger and rice into a large saucepan and quickly bring to the boil. Cook over a high simmer, stirring frequently until the congee begins to thicken, about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover and rest for 10 minutes. Taste then season with fish sauce and tamari.
Ladle into serving bowls then top each serve with an egg, a tablespoon of dried shrimp, a generous scattering of herbs and a drizzle of tamari.
Roughly adapted from the Australian Gourmet Traveller, September 2013
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14 comments on “Simple Ginger Congee”
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Please Pass the Recipe by Sandra Gay is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
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I just made laksa with vietnamese mint and i guess i’m lovin it….
i love this kind of spice congee, i thonk i’m gonna use my oats within this recipe…
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Viet mint has a knack of making a dish sing, I bet your laksa was delicious!
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This really is a bowl of comfort. It looks delicious. That’s one good thing about our Winters. Most plant-based allergies disappear for a few months. I’ll have to remember your congee prescription when they return. 🙂
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Yes spring bring lots of warmth and colour, but sadly also allergies. Chicken soup seems to fix everything for me!
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This sounds like an international fusion/melting pot congee. Definitely, ginger is the starring role. I never made congee (it seeems, I haven’t made many things… I bought Arborio though!) and I think I should. 😀 )))
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Thanks Fae it’s a delicious, nutritious and comforting brew! Looking forward to your adventures with the arborio!
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And I would feel better too with a dish like this one! It looks wonderful Sandra. I’ve never had congee, and now I definitely must give this a go!
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I love congee during the cold months! Your ginger version sounds delicious!
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Thanks Darya it was comforting, warming and delicious!
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Never had this dish, but it does sound comforting. I must ask, though, about the chicken stock. I’ve made it in the distant past using chicken carcases not totally stripped of their meat (and not cooked) and veggies. Am I the only one?
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I still make chicken stock regularly to have on hand in the freezer, nothing commercial can match it for flavour. 😎
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Yum! this looks delicious. I loved my basic chicken congee when I made it recovering from having my wisdom teeth out but your recipe takes it to a whole other level! Amazing photo’s too. x
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Thanks it was delicious! xx
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