SAWCLicious: 4C - Cindy's Chinese Chicken Congee

It's WINTER time and it's getting colder in Brussels! I just recovered from colds since I came back to foggy Brussels and the weather wasn't supportive enough the whole time. Just right after I recovered from colds, I was craving for hot congee! My family is always startled that I love CONGEE (just like old chinese folks) but hates to eat them when I'm sick! Weird right?

So, since I was craving for some congee, I went ahead and cooked some for myself to enjoy. I have a congee recipe that I learned from my mom and this is not what you would normally eat in a chinese restaurant but it is one of the best congee I have ever tasted! I call it...drum rolls please....

 4C- Cindy's Chinese Chicken Congee!

Ingredients

• Ginger (about the size of your thumb), sliced
• 5 pcs Chinese mushrooms soaked in 1 cup of water for minimum of 6 hours, sliced. Set aside soaked water.
• 4 pcs. Chicken Drumstick (My mom would use 1 whole chicken, but it is easier to use drumsticks)
• 250grams of Pork Ribs 
• 1 cup of White Rice or Pandan Rice  (My mom mentioned then you get better results when you pre-soak the rice in water for 30 minutes. I've always cooked congee though without pre-soaking rice)
• 1 stems of spring onion chopped for garnishing
• 1 full stem of spring onion cleaned, roots removed
• 1 cup Cabbage, chopped
• 3 tbsp fish sauce 
• 10 whole peppercorns
• White Pepper, Salt
• 4 tbsp. Corn Oil
• 1 liter of water
• Optional: You can also add dried scallop (Found in Chinese Store. You need to soak for a minimum of 6 hours. Do not include the soaked water of the scallop. )

Procedure

1. Start by boiling water in a pan. Add the pork ribs and let it boil for around 5 minutes. Strain the pork ribs and discard the water.
2. In a pot, heat oil and saute ginger. Add in chicken and season with 1 tbsp. of fish sauce. When chicken is slightly brown, add in rice and saute for 1 minute. 
3. Then add the water, pork ribs, peppercorns, spring onion (full stem) and mushroom with the soaked water into the pot. If you have dried scallop, you can also add it in at this point.
4. Turn your heat to low and let it simmer, stirring occasionally. Stirring helps make the congee creamy like how you get it from the restaurants.
5. When pork is soft and chicken is cooked (around 45 mins), add in the cabbage and let it simmer for around 15 minutes. At this point, be careful not to burn your congee and don't forget to stir. If too creamy, you can add in some water. Season your congee with fish sauce, white pepper, and salt. 

Serve in a bowl garnished with spring onions. You can add white pepper, fish sauce, or lime/calamansi, or fresh egg (my fave) as you wish. :)

So what do you think of this recipe?