P
Chinese · China
Congee
Congee (zhou) is rice cooked in 10-12x its weight of water until the grains dissolve into a thick, smooth porridge. It is the comfort food of all East Asia — Japanese okayu, Thai khao tom, Vietnamese chao all follow the same logic. Chinese congee is typically plain (plain congee as a base) or with preserved egg and pork (pi dan shou rou zhou — the definitive version). The consistency should be thick enough to coat a spoon but thin enough to pour slowly from a ladle.
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I
The Market List
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100 g
jasmine rice
Your own market
1200 ml
chicken stock
Your own market
3 g
sea salt
Your own market
1 g
white pepper
Your own market
2
scallions
thinly sliced
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
10 g
1 sheet
nori seaweed
shredded
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
15 ml
soy sauce (optional)
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Rinse rice under cold water until water runs clear; drain.
2
Bring chicken stock to boil in heavy-bottomed pot; add rice and salt.
3
Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until rice breaks down and mixture reaches porridge consistency (add stock if too thick).
4
Season with white pepper; taste and adjust salt as needed.
5
Ladle into bowls and garnish with scallions, ginger, nori, and sesame oil.
6
Serve hot, passing soy sauce and white pepper at table.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Where it lives or dies. The moment where congee lives or dies is the century egg — pi dan (century egg / preserved egg) has a dark, translucent, black-green exterior and a creamy, dark yolk. It tastes of a concentrated, aged egg — slightly sulphurous, deeply umami, with a creamy texture. Its role in congee is to season each spoonful of plain rice with a concentrated hit of savoury complexity. Do not be put off by the appearance.
Pillars V — VII
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Cross-cuisine parallels, what to pour, and the dish's origin and lineage — on every recipe.
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