P
Chinese · Hong Kong
Cantonese Congee with Century Egg and Pork
Pi dan shou rou zhou: the most ordered congee in Hong Kong and Cantonese restaurants worldwide. Silky-smooth rice porridge with preserved century egg (pi dan) cut into wedges and thin-sliced raw pork that cooks in the hot congee as it arrives. The pungent sulphurous egg contrasts the clean pork and neutral porridge base.
‹Swipe for the next dish›
I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
For the congee base
300 g
broken rice (chuan mi)
or whole-grain jasmine rice; broken rice produces a silkier result
Origin · VietnamWismettac · Vancouver →
1.5 litres
good chicken stock
Your own market
500 ml
water
Your own market
30 g
For the pork marinade
200 g
pork loin or pork fillet
sliced paper-thin against the grain
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tbsp
light soy sauce
1 tsp
sesame oil
Your own market
1 tsp
cornstarch
Origin · ChinaWismettac · Vancouver →
¼ tsp
ground white pepper
Your own market
To finish and serve
4
century eggs (pi dan)
peeled, each cut into 6–8 wedges
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
20 g
2
you tiao (fried dough sticks)
halved or roughly broken; served alongside
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tbsp
sesame oil
for dispensing at the table
Your own market
4
spring onions
finely sliced
Your own market
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Combine the broken rice, chicken stock, water, and sliced ginger in a large heavy pot. Bring to a vigorous boil over high heat, then reduce to the lowest possible simmer. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally to prevent the rice from catching, until the grains have completely dissolved into a smooth, cohesive porridge. The congee is ready when it coats the back of a spoon heavily and no distinct grain remains — it should taste lightly and cleanly of chicken stock and ginger.
2
While the congee simmers, combine the thin-sliced pork with the soy sauce, sesame oil, white pepper, and cornstarch. Mix well so every slice is coated. Keep refrigerated until the moment of service. The marinade is correct when the pork is lightly glossy and carries no excess liquid.
3
Remove the ginger slices from the congee. Season the porridge with salt if needed — it should carry a light, savoury depth from the stock, never bland and never aggressively salty. Bring the congee back to a scalding, active simmer immediately before ladling.
4
This is where the dish lives or dies. Ladle the congee into individual bowls at the highest possible temperature — it must be scalding hot. Immediately arrange the century egg wedges (6–8 per bowl) across the surface, then lay the marinated raw pork slices over the top in a single even layer. The residual heat of the congee cooks the pork gently to just-done within one to two minutes at the table. Do not add the pork in advance; it will overcook and toughen before the bowl reaches the guest.
5
Finish each bowl with a small pile of ginger julienne and a scattering of spring onion. Set sesame oil on the table for each diner to dispense. Serve the you tiao alongside — broken into sections — so the diner can dip the crisp dough into the hot congee for textural contrast. The bowl is complete when the pork has turned from translucent pink to an even, pale, just-cooked white.
From the canon — You tiao (油条, literally oil stick or oil strip) are the long, golden, slightly crispy-on-the-outside, airy-on-the-inside Chinese fried dough sticks that are … You Tiao (油条) — Chinese Crullers: The Breakfast Tradition →
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Broken rice (chuan mi) base cooked in a rich, home-made pork-and-chicken stock; century eggs from a specialist supplier with a deep, complex cured yolk; hand-sliced pork from heritage-breed loin; freshly fried you tiao made to order.
02
Estate — Broken rice cooked in a good commercial chicken stock reinforced with fresh ginger; quality supermarket century eggs with intact, firm whites; pork fillet sliced thin by a butcher; you tiao purchased the same morning.
03
Market — Jasmine rice cooked in a standard chicken stock; widely available vacuum-packed century eggs; supermarket pork loin, home-sliced as thinly as possible; reheated or packaged you tiao.
04
House — Any long-grain white rice cooked in diluted stock or water with a stock cube; century eggs as available; any thinly cut pork; you tiao omitted or substituted with a plain fried cruller.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Sight. No distinct rice grain is visible — the porridge is a smooth, uniform, heavily coating mass with a slight sheen from the stock.
◇Touch. The bowl is too hot to hold comfortably at the base — the congee inside is at scalding temperature, sufficient to cook the raw pork within two minutes.
◇Sight. The pork slices have turned from translucent pink to an even, pale, just-cooked white across their full surface — the sign they are done without overcooking.
◇Smell. A distinct sulphurous, mineral note rises from the bowl as the century egg meets the hot congee — present but balanced by the clean ginger and stock aroma.
◇Where it lives or dies. The congee must reach the bowl at scalding temperature and the raw pork must be added only at that moment — too cool or too early and the pork overcooks, the dish is lost.
Pillar V
Cross-cuisine parallels are part of membership.
The dishes this one teaches you, across the cuisines — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year
VI
What to Pour
A light, fragrant tea — jasmine or a mild oolong — suits the neutral, silky base and tempers the sulphurous sharpness of the century egg without competing with it. Alternatively, plain hot water, as is customary in Cantonese dim sum service.
The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year
Sourced through Provenance