Sometimes you look in the refrigerator, and the inspiration just isn’t there. “Nope, don’t want to eat that, or that, or that.” (If you don’t know what this is like, I’m certain you’re happily married, financially stable, and have 1.2 children. Mazeltov.)
In moments like this, it is good to have basic recipes that are really filling, comforting and easy to make. Congee is one of those recipes; it’s rice porridge. It also uses ingredients that are likely to be on hand. There are lots of different varieties; in some parts of the world, people even eat it for breakfast.
Ingredients:
1/8 cup fresh ginger
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
1 1/2 cups medium or short grain rice
1/8 to 1/4 cup dry Shiitake mushrooms
8 chicken wings
1 teaspoon parsley
Kitchen Apparati:
stove
large saucepan with a lid
microwave safe dish
microwave
wooden spoon
Directions:
Put the chicken broth, rice and water in a pot. Put the pot on the stove and turn the burner to about medium-high. Add the parsley. Peel the ginger and put large whole chunks of it into the pan. Add the mushrooms. Let the water boil–that will take about fifteen minutes. While you’re waiting for the water to boil, take eight chicken wings from the freezer and defrost them in the microwave. When the water boils, take the thawed chicken out of the microwave and put it under cold water. Peel the fat and skin from the wings and put the small pieces of chicken that are left into the boiling rice water. When the rice has boiled for at least five minutes, turn the heat down to medium low, and put on a lid. Turn on the kitchen timer for thirty minutes. Leave the pot for at least twenty-five minutes. When the timer goes off, take off the lid and you have congee.*
Cost: About .75 cents a serving
*I’ve been making this for years and the rice invariably sticks to the bottom of the pan. Leave it to soak overnight after the fact–it will save a lot of scrubbing.
A tip to not have the rice stick to the bottom is once the water starts boiling, stir the rice then making sure to get the bottom. But after that don’t stir it again until it’s done.