Congee with Minced Pork (瘦肉粥)
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Happy 4th July! Hope some of you have days off this week so you will have the time to enjoy a real breakfast!
Breakfast is often labeled as the most important meal of the day. A good breakfast can help you start the day right by providing enough energy for you to get through the morning.
To many, a perfect breakfast is the classic two eggs any style, or the sinful but delicious sausage and cheese frittata, or the fluffy buttermilk pancakes, or the light and healthy fruit smoothie. To me, a perfect breakfast consists of a bowl of plain congee and one or two freshly steamed Chinese meat buns.
If you have never heard of congee before, it is rice porridge where the main ingredients are typically rice and water. In China, the existence of congee dates back to ancient china thousands of years ago. Besides being eaten as a meal, congee is also considered a medicinal food that can sooth the digestive system and enhance one’s metabolism. It also makes a perfect weight control diet.
In China, congees come in great range of variations by region. Despite the differences, congee is a comfort food to many Chinese and is consumed year round. Besides eating it as a breakfast, I also like to make pot of hot congee loaded with meats and vegetables. It is not just body warning but also soul comforting. In the summer time, eating congee is a perfect way to stay on a light diet and balance the metabolism and digestive system.
The congee recipe I am sharing today is considered a variation from Cantonese cuisine. The Cantonese congee is typically boiled for a longer time until the rice is broken apart and partially incorporated to the liquid to form a thick porridge. The addition of pork bone in making the basic congee adds a layer of savory flavor to the plain congee.
Before you cook the rice, you need to soak the rice in cold water for about an hour. This makes it easier to break down the rice grains.
While having the rice soaked, prepare a pot of boiling water and add pork bones to the water to make a pork stock.
Over high heat, add the soaked rice and sliced ginger to the stock. Stir the rice to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the stock pot. Boil the rice for another 10 minutes on high heat then simmer the congee over low heat. Stir the congee occasionally so it won’t stick to the bottom. Continue to simmer for about 1 to 2 hours until it forms a thick and creamy consistency. This is your basic congee.
The additional minced pork acts as a “topping” to the basic congee. Start preparing the pork by mixing the minced pork with all the pork ingredients except the water. Add water slowly to the pork while stir the minced pork with a spoon in the same direction. Stop adding the water when the pork becomes lighter and well incorporated with water.
Add the flavored pork to the basic congee. Bring the congee to boil. Make sure you stir the congee to prevent it from sticking. When the pork is cooked, add sliced ginger, salt, and white pepper to taste.
Lastly, add the sliced iceberg lettuce. Turn off the heat and garnish the congee with some chopped scallion.
Congee is a one of my favorite Chinese comfort foods. Learn to make this delicious Congee with Mince Pork dish with step by step illustrations.
Ingredients
- 1.5 cup Rice
- 2 gallon water
- 1 lb pork bone
- 3 slice ginger
- ½ LB minced pork
- 1 slice ginger
- ½ tbsp Salt and pepper
- ¼ cup water
- Iceberg lettuce, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp white pepper powder
- Thinly sliced ginger
- Salt to taste
- Scallions, chopped
Instructions
- Before you cook the rice, you need to soak the rice in cold water for about an hour. This makes it easier to break down the rice grains.
- While having the rice soaked, prepare a pot of boiling water and add pork bones to the water to make a pork stock.
- Over high heat, add the soaked rice and sliced ginger to the stock. Stir the rice to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the stock pot. Boil the rice for another 10 minutes on high heat then simmer the congee over low heat. Stir the congee occasionally so it won’t stick to the bottom. Continue to simmer for about 1 to 2 hours until it forms a thick and creamy consistency. This is your basic congee.
- Prepare the pork by mixing the minced pork with all the pork ingredients except the water. Add water slowly to the pork while stir the minced pork with a spoon in the same direction. Stop adding the water when the pork becomes lighter and well incorporated with water.
- Add the flavored pork to the basic congee. Bring the congee to boil. Make sure you stir the congee to prevent it from sticking. When the pork is cooked, add sliced ginger, salt, and white pepper to taste.
- Lastly, add the sliced iceberg lettuce. Turn off the heat and garnish the congee with some chopped scallion.
What’s your favorite congee meal?
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My Family Loved it. I am definitely sharing Guys, Thanks For sharing this Great Recipe. this recipe and this website with my friend. Hope they also love it. Thank you again for sharing such a great recipe.
Hi Yi, How much water should I add for the pork bones stock?
Hi Yi, Your congee looks yummy! How much water should I add for the pork bones stock?
hi Sue, sorry for not getting back to you sooner. You can start with about 1 gallon of water for this recipe. Hope this helps.
hye there.. nice looking congee 🙂
may i know did u marinate the minced pork with something before u put in the porridge? tq
Thanks for visiting. Yes the pork was marinated with the ingredients under pork topping. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
I’m a complete kitchen novice so I’m cofused about boiling the pork bones. Do I leave the meat on the bones when making the broth and how long do I need to simmer the bones to make the broth?
Hi Christina, first of all thanks for checking out my recipes. To answer your question, I normally get bones from Asian supermarkets so there isn’t much meat left on them. If your cut has a lot of meat then it makes sense to trim off some meat for other uses. I normally let my stock simmer for at least 1 hour for deeper flavor. Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any other questions.
Hi Yi. I followed your link from that other site. You have some great recipes. I was looking for a Congee recipe which I also know as Jook. The local market makes it on weekends but it is gone before noon. They make it with 1000 year old egg and mushroom. I had to check with a Chinese friend to find out what those brown slippery bits were. A not so local restaurant sells it plain or with various toppings. I get it plain because I like it with BBQ pork slivers, scallion and fried noodles and sometimes a little soy sauce. As soon as I collect some pork bones I’ll try yours. The only bones I usually have are from bone-in pork chops. Are you using raw or bones that have been cooked? Do you get yours from the butcher or use some other cut? I like the Idea of using jasmine rice. I have been using it a lot lately.
Hi Jeff, thanks for checking out my blog and sorry for the late reply. The art of congee making is that once you master the plain congee you can put any types of toppings or proteins as you wish. To answer your question, I get bones from my local Asian supermarkets. They all carry some sort of soup bones. If that’s not an option, you can also use the bones from pork chops or pork shoulders. I hope this answers your question.
I love making congee and this recipe sounds great! One thing I’ve always wondered about though- does the basic congee last long if you wanted to make a huge batch to eat for several days in a row? I usually only make enough for a day and it definitely doesn’t last long!
Thanks again for the recipe!
Hi Kelsey, thanks for visiting. I also like to make extra congee and enjoy the leftover over a few days. I normally store my leftover in the fridge for up to 3 days. If you like in a cold area, you can probably store in the room temperature for 1 to 2 days, just make sure you bring the congee to boil before leaving it outside. I hope this answers your question! Thanks.
great, this definitely helps! thank you!!
Hi – I have just returned from a trip to China and want to make this delicious dish myself but not sure what sort of rice to use?
Thanks!
Hello, there is more than one type of rice you can use but my favorite kind is Thai jasmine rice. It’s got a great flavor and texture. Feel free to use other types of rice if you don’t have jasmine. The types I’d avoid are sticky rice and brown rice:) hope this helps!
Yi, your congee looks so awesome. I can attest to the wonders the addition of pork bones into the stock. It definitely is far superior than the one without 🙂
Thanks Anita.
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Please can you post a recipe for Suk Mai Jook? My 5 yr old son loves to eat it at his kindergarten but I don’t know how to make it. I will make it in the rice cooker on the congee setting. Any recipe would be much appreciated ! Thanks
Hello Tam, thanks for your request. I will definitly post a creamy corn congee shortly. Thanks again for your visit.
I’ll be trying this one next 🙂 Love your blog 🙂
Thank you Mette, please let me know how it turned out.
Very interesting site! Glad I found you!
thanks Kimberly!
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I still need to make this at home – a great dish for anytime of the day! Thanks for sharing.
This is true comfort food for me! I find myself making congee at least once a week, either to soothe my sniffles, or to warm me up on a disgusting grey rainy day in London, or just to cure my homesickness.
This is such a comforting dish…love this especially when the weather is cold. I will save the recipe as I never made this dish myself.
Have a wonderful weekend Yi 🙂
Your congee looks wonderful! I can feel the comfort! I rarely make it unless someone in my family is sick, but often enjoy it at dim sum. I bet homemade is 100x better. 🙂
Congee is one of my comfort foods and I have it at least once every week. It is usually plain congee with side-dishes. I enjoy Cantonese congee too but seldom have Cantonese-style congee cooked at home.
Great post. Nice and thorough instructions, great detail. I’ve eaten congee, but never made it – and it’s so easy (and delicious!). It has always seemed to me it’d be just as good at dinner as at breakfast. I never knew it was considered to have medicinal value! Or that it could be a “diet” food. I love learning new things! Really excellent post – thank you.
hello Yi! I love congee but I never eat it for breakfast but last Sunday, my family and I were supposed to eat at a creoe breakfast place downtown. The line was too long so my husband quickly decided to go to a dimsum place. Our convos were funny. Like my son said, what dimsum for breakfast? and hubs replied: Yes don’t you know that dimsum is eaten during breakfast? (well Yi is that true? haha!) S
To make the story short, yes we did end up having dimsum and congee included for breakfast.
Been wanting to make this kind of congee. YOur whole post and its step by step procedure will come handy when I’m ready to try congee making at home.
Thanks again Yi… til next time!
malou
hello Malou, thansk for your visit. In China, dim sum was mostly enjoyed in the form of brunch. It’s a great way for family to grab a meal with on a sunday morning. I hope you get to try the congee soon.
Nice recipe and photos!
While I do love the soft and smooth Cantonese congees, I also like Fujian-style congees which contain less water, cook for a shorter time, and have relatively firmer rice grains.
Hi Yi! I remember my Mom making congee when I got the cold as a child (like the American chicken soup to sooth discomfort), also this is something we ate on weekend mornings, though she did not add any ingredients, just plain rice and water, and we can choose to add toppings of our liking.
I did not know you actually add ground pork after the rice is cooked, thank you for explaining the steps, my husband is a big congee fan, I shall make this soon!
thanks for dropping by Jeno. I think congee tastes good however you make it. The ground meat is just the ice on the cake!