Congee is commonly known as a food served to people who are recovering from sickness, the elderly, toddlers or babies. Congee is quite commonly eaten among the Chinese since rice is our staple food.
Japanese Short-grain rice is quite different from long-grain basmati or jasmine rice. It is soft and sticky compared to other kinds of Asian rice. Compared to other countries where rice porridge is eaten, Japanese rice porridge is much thicker. A rice-to-water ratio is 1 : 5 for typical rice porridge (we call it zen-gayu), compared to 1 : 12 for a Cantonese-style congee. Japanese rice porridge recipe can be made much quicker than the Chinese congee.
I grew up loving rice congee, for me it's comfort food . It's soft texture, warm, easy on the stomach but sweeten by the stock from the ingredients is like food for the soul. Easy to swallow too, not much chewing needed, haha... I don't mind eating it everyday. Give me a bowl of congee and it will make me happy. I love it either way, cooked with lots of ingredients or plain but eaten with side dishes.
Rice can be tricky, as stove strength varies, so cooking times in recipes are really just approximations. Here's I'm using the leftover pan-fried Salmon fish.
Ingredients: (serves 1)
50g Japanese short-grain rice
1pc Chinese Mushroom - thinly sliced
15g Carrot - shredded
10g White Anchovies (Ikan Bilis) - cleaned & deboned
500ml Water
Small piece of pan-fried Salmon - mashed with a fork.
Salt & pepper to taste
Garnishing options - white sesame seeds/ coriander / spring onions
Step by Step:
1. Wash & soak rice in the Queens Xense Casserole in 250ml water.
2. Add in chinese mushroom, carrots and anchovies. Bring to boil & then reduce to slow heat.
3. Let it simmer for 15 mins. At this time, the rice is already fluff up but still in whole grains. Add some hot water, 150ml to the congee & turn off heat & covered with lid. As this casserole can retains heat very well, although we turn off the heat, the rice will still continue to cook. (I do it this way to save electricity too) Let it sit for 20 mins with heat off.
4. After 20 mins, the congee will look like this. All the water will be soaked up & soft.
Then add another 100ml of water and turn on the heat to continue cooking.
5. Continue cooking for another 6 mins. At this stage the rice grains will burst open & you will be a congee texture. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Note : you may add more water if you find it too thick & prefer more watery congee texture.
6. Dish up & sprinkle mashed salmon on top. Garnish & serve hot.
Cooked with Queen's Xense Casserole Marble Coated Anodised Coating. Non stick 5 layer marble coating. Durable & Long Lasting. High heat efficiency. Easy cleaning & maintenance.
Queen's Xense Casserole with Glass Lid comes in 2 different sizes : 20cm & 24cm.
More details please visit: http://www.edgi.com.my