The Humble Dish.

If there’s a dish that continues to amaze me time and time again, it has got to be congee, or rice porridge. The magic in this basic meal, i suppose, lies in its simplicity. Thick or watery, a one pot meal or served plain with an array of side dishes, you get to call the shots. And whatever you go with, chances are it will end up pretty good.

This incredibly versatile dish was initially used by the poor in China to stretch their supply of rice and has now been adopted by many Asian cultures, each with their own variation.

A variation favoured by GT and a newfound favourite with me is the Cantonese style- white rice boiled in and continously topped up with water till it breaks down to form a smooth, thick porridge. I made it with minced pork, seasoned and roughly rolled into balls- which i must say made for quite a therapeutic experience- and towards the end, threw in the leftover chicken stock i had from the Korean stew.

The result was a pretty tasty congee which had GT proclaiming it to be one of the best home made congee he has had, which was a huge compliment in itself. It made for a pretty decent and effortless meal i must say, for all the sitting around and watching Boston Legal season 4 i did, only peeling myself off the seat to add water into the congee and give it a good stir.

Pork Congee

Ingredients
400g minced pork
2 tsp light soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp corn flour
Generous pinch of salt
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1 tbsp preserved vegetable, soaked in hot water for 5 minutes, drained and finely chopped
Congee
2 cups white rice
6 cups water
½ tsp salt
2 tsp sesame oil
1 cup chicken stock
Ginger, thinly sliced, to serve
Fried shallots, to serve
Spring onions, thinly sliced, to serve

1. Combine minced pork with preserved vegetables. Add in light soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, corn flour, salt and white pepper, mixing well. Make 1 golf ball sized pork ball and set the rest of the pork mixture aside. Bring a small saucepan of water to boil, cook the pork ball and taste. Add more seasoning to the pork mixture if needed, cover and refrigerate till congee is ready.
2. To make congee Rinse rice twice under cold running water. Drain and put rice, water, salt and sesame oil in a large saucepan. Bring to boil over high heat before lowering heat and allow congee to simmer till it’s thick and smooth. Stir constantly, occasionally adding more water if congee gets too thick.
3. Add chicken stock and shaping pork mixture into golf sized balls as you go, add pork balls to congee. Bring congee to boil, lower heat and let simmer for ten minutes or till congee is thick and pork balls, cooked. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Serve hot with ginger, spring onions and fried shallots. Serves 6