Congee is Chinese rice porridge, which can be served plain, sweet, or savoury. It is actually pretty bland in flavour. When additional ingredients such as meat, fish, and flavourings are added while preparing the congee, which is most often served as a meal on its own, especially for persons who are ill.

I remembered grandma congee ingredients also have salted duck eggs, century eggs, preserved olive leaves, spring onions, black mushroom, dried shrimps, Chinese pickled vegetables, fish, fried oysters and scallops, fresh ginger cut into sticks, fried shallots and poached chicken.

Congee is served as breakfast, lunch and dinner in Malaysia. Also, when I don’t feel sick, I still find it as satisfying meal. My first congee I had my mom helping me to cook in a rice cooker.

Today, I had brought it up to the next level my own creation. It has salted fish boned and chicken stock, fish fillets and minced pork, garnished with spring onion and XO chili sauce. I got to have chili in it, that’s me chili lovers. It’s comforting delicious and flavourful congee. Let’s cook!!!!

Ingredients

2-3 c cooked rice
1 ” fresh ginger
1 1/2 Tbs minced garlic
1/2 Tbs oyster sauce
1/2 Tbs soy sauce
150 g salted fish boned, chopped into chunky pieces
4 drumsticks plus 8 c water; 1 ” ginger, salt, black peppercorns and 4 garlic cloves to make stock
200-250 g minced pork
200 g white tail snapper, fillets
2 Tsp olive oil
1/2 Tsp minced fresh ginger
1/2 Tsp minced garlic
1 Tsp Shaoxing wine
1 Tsp soy sauce
1/4 Tsp salt, and extra
1 Tsp pepper and extra
water, if necessary

Garnish

1 stalk spring onion
XO Chili sauce, my friend gave me (OPT)

Method

Wash and soak salt fish pieces in water for 30 to 40 minutes. Drain well. Deep-fry salted fish in hot oil for five to six minutes. Dish out and set aside. Make chicken stock: drumsticks, water, ginger, salt, black peppercorns and garlic; bring to boil. Add fried salted fish and bring to simmer for about 20-25 minutes until salted fish is tender.

In the rice cooker, add cooked rice, chicken and salted fish stock, fresh ginger, garlic, oyster sauce, soy sauce to pot and turn on rice cooker. Uncovered and stir occasionally for 45 minutes; to make sure it’s not sticking to the bottom or until congee is smooth and no longer grainy and broken. Add more chicken and salted fish stock and water if necessary.

In a bowl, combine minced pork, ginger, garlic, Shaoxing wine, salt, pepper, soy sauce, and oil. Mix well and set aside in the refrigerator. When congee is nearly done; has the right consistency: creamy. Add minced pork to congee, breaking down minced pork, and simmer until minced pork is cooked, for about 10 minutes.

When congee is done, change setting to ‘keep warm’. Add fish fillets to rice cooker. Stir and cover for 5 minutes or until it is cooked through. Add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with spring onions and serve with white pepper, and XO chili sauce.

Note: You can use any ingredients of your choice. Or you can add the ingredients like my grandma and mom does as mention above. You might want it more liquid, so add more stock or water. Keep the drumsticks for other dishes: pull-apart chicken strip, make chicken salad or stir fry chicken.

You can omit salted fried fish and XO chili sauce. You can use prawn heads as in my other congee recipe at the bottom, put fried shallots, Chinese doughnut, or fried tofu. Or create your own flavour ingredients. You can use vegetables, or box ready stock or cube packet stocks.

https://helenscchin.com/2021/04/04/fish-and-minced-pork-congee-in-salted-fish-broth/

My other congee recipe:

https://helenscchin.com/2020/10/03/fish-and-minced-pork-congee-porridge/

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