Congee

Happy New Year!!!

It's been super cold the past few days. The coldest was 27F. Brrr... But I'm luving the cold if I can stay home. Plus, it's a nice change to the hot Texas heat.

So last Friday (January 6th), I happened to check the radar since it was pouring out. Then I saw it... snow in Sugar Land? Really? I was excited and Camden was too. We decided to venture out... in the cold... in the rain... in search of... SNOW!!!

It was about 45 minutes drive and once we got there, it was nothing but rain... sleet. Bummer. We stopped by Whole Foods instead and bought some pastries for treats and manchego cheese for future dinner. Still was a good trip. Just wish we saw snow flakes.

Since the temperature was dropping, I decided to put my slower cooker to good use. Thursday was making the chicken broth. Friday was cooking congee. After I posted the congee photo on my Facebook page, a lot of my friends asked what it was. Think of it as porridge. Creamy with no cream or milk added. It's an Asian dish with variation of added garnishes. I ate a bowl with pieces of fish with peanuts once and didn't care for the taste. Congee with ground pork was pretty tasty. The one I made last Friday was just chicken broth with Jasmin rice and cauliflower. Just because I've been wanting cauliflower soup for awhile now.

I was told to blend cooked rice in broth in a blender to make it creamy so no slow cooker is required. But the whole point of using a slow cooker is to spend less time in the kitchen. I prefer the dump-it-and-forget-it recipes. Easy pleasy. For my congee, I set the slow cooker on HIGH at around 9am. As soon as I saw the congee bubbling, around noon, I turned it to LOW until 5:30pm dinner.

And be creative with the garnishes and added proteins. My kids ate their congee with grilled hot dogs and potato chips. The top photo was my breakfast congee... over easy egg, scallion, cilantros, fried onions with a lot of hot sauce. Because I like my savory dishes spiceee.

Congee
serve 4-6

6-8 cups chicken broth
3/4 to 1 cup uncooked Jasmin rice
half cauliflower head, roughly chopped
1 inch peeled fresh ginger or 1-3 teaspoons ground ginger (add more for spicier taste)
1 teaspoon black peppers

Garnishes
fried onion
fried garlic
thinly sliced scallions
roughly chopped cilantros
fish sauce
hot sauce

Protein Options
fried or over easy eggs
shredded cooked chickens
crumbled cooked bacons (crunchy and in bits)
thinly slice beef

1. Add all of the ingredients into the slower cooker.
2. Set it on LOW for 6 hours or on HIGH for 4 hours.
3. Stir and serve congee with garnishes and protein options. Add fish sauce and hot sauce to taste.

Congee is extremely hot right out of the slow cooker. Be careful when serving to kids. I spoon my kids' congee in bowls and let them sit out for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Allergy Info: My congee recipe is free from or can be made without dairy, egg (if not garnish with fried egg), corn, wheat, legumes (peanuts and soy), or nuts. If you have fish allergy, use sea salt to taste. If you can have legumes, soy sauce is a good alternative. Read the ingredients listed for pre packaged garnishes such as fried onions or hot sauce, as it may contain soy oil and/or corn derivatives. Or thinly sliced onions or garlic in hot oil until crispy. No hot sauce, no problems. Sprinkle ground hot peppers.