Roasted Rice Congee with Pork and Ginger

I am convinced that congee is something one can only cook with soul.  This means, there is no exact recipe that one should follow... yes, seriously.  One must go with the flow, taste as you cook, and decide when the flavor is just right.  I guess it is more a philosophy of cooking congee? In any case, there are always some useful tips one could benefit from such as using half the amount of rice one would need to make regular steamed/boiled rice.  To yield a pot-full (I know, I'm so technical) of congee, one of would probably only need a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of rice - depending on how thick or watery you like your congee.  You can't go wrong with how you season or flavor your congee - adding salt first or last does not matter but do go slow and easy because the congee cooks for a long time so a little salt goes a long way.

I like to make my own broth and trust me, it's super easy.  You will need bone-in meat like chicken thigh - I'm definitely a leg and thigh kinda' girl.  Here, I roasted the rice with ginger and scallion whites before I added the broth.  I do think that it adds more flavor to the congee and also changes the color so if you prefer your congee snow white - don't roast your rice.  Simple, right.

Be prepared to watch and stir the congee often for the next couple of hours.  This is definitely not a low-maintenance dish, but it's worth the effort.

It's nothing too sexy but two bone-in chicken thigh allowed me to render about 8 cups of chicken broth so I used about 3/4 to make congee and the rest to make quinoa.

Minced ginger.  Use as much as you like depending on your gingery preference.  How minced?  Enough to make an Asian grandmother proud.  On another note, my photography skills is terrible - these photos are blurred and out of focus.  Fail.

Here, I added 2 T of canola oil, threw in my knob of minced ginger and two stalks of scallion whites.  Cook for about 3-5 minutes of medium heat.

Add in your 1/2 cup of rice and cook for another 3-5 minutes.  It's sorta' like roasting nuts - stir often and making sure that all the grains are roasted.  If not, your congee will not be awesome.

I kid.

Broth.  Yes, in the middle there is a 1/2 cup of ground pork.  I like to add it in after the broth because I think it adds nice flavor to it instead of cooking it first with the ginger and scallions.

Always need a little fish sauce.  Here is about 2 Ts of fish sauce to add more depth to the congee.  Delicious!

Stir, stir, STIR.  Of course, I also seasoned the congee with some sugar and salt.  Again, go easy on the salt.  Think pinches not teaspoons.

After an hour, it started to look like this.  I did add a 1/2 cup of water during the first hour because it seemed to be getting too thick.  Trust your instincts.

Giving it a little stir.  I do like my congee thick but even here, it's not quite done yet.  It will probably need to cook on slow heat for another hour or so.  Remember, stir often or you'll have burnt chunks of congee at the bottom half of your pot.

Will post the final product tomorrow.

BTW, I like to top my congee off with some sliced scallions and chopped thousand year old egg.  And if calories wasn't an issue, I would definitely pick up some fresh yau ja gwai from the local Chinese bakery as well.

Vietnamese Style Pulled Pork and Slaw

This posts deserve an exclamation point because I was really excited to make and can't wait for my friends to try.  I was inspired by a recent pulled pork party I went to and learned that the slaw goes on top of the pulled pork.  On top of that, I became an aunt this weekend! What's not to celebrate, right?

The recipe was very simple but I have to tweak it a few before I can be sure.  Simply, I used coconut juice, coconut milk, pineapple juice, star anise, all spice, fish sauce, and other seasonings.  The slaw came with cabbage, carrots, scallions, radishes, with toasted almond & lemongrass (yup, I toasted the lemongrass - delicious!). The slaw dressing had olive oil, egg, lemon juice, fish sauce, garlic, bird's eye chili, salt & pepper, and sugar.

I cooked 4 lbs of pork shoulder and hand pulled it.  My plan is to serve it with the slow and some sticky rice.  I could steam some mantou buns but unfortunately, I don't own a steamer.


Please excuse the photos' quality - I took everything with my iPhone. Yeah, goooo iPhone!

Shoulder in broth & brewing...

The first batch pulled (yes, my pot was not big enough for all 4 lbs of shoulder to cook)

Making the slaw... you notice how I julienned the carrots? Pretty sweet, eh?

It's quite easy.  I do it the old school style by slicing it into thin pieces and stacking them.

Voila! Sorry, no cabbage photo here but I mainly sliced them thin and then chopped them into smaller pieces.  Again, it is a slaw and not just a salad.

Thinly sliced scallions.

Julienne some radishes.

Layer basil and prep them for chiffonading (french word minus the ing).

What you do is you roll it then slice it.

Mix, Mix, Mix.

On the stove, I toasted some raw sliced almonds with chopped lemongrass.  Smells wonderful!

Add the toasty deliciousness to the slaw. Then mix, mix, and mix!

The final product in the pot. Oh so delicious.

Agreed? Hand pulled - gotta' love it.

The other day I made a fontina and taleggio mac 'n cheese. :)

Stockholm and Copenhagen

I've moved, I've gone to Sweden, I've gone to Denmark, I've returned, and I've failed to blog...

I don't blame anyone for not following my blog, anymore.

Again, I am too wordy... enjoy the photos!

First day in Stockholm and our friend, Elise, is making us a Swedish cheese pie! It was oh so yummy. I went back for 3rds and 4ths.

This was Adel's first crawfish experience. Who would have known that Swedes have crawfish parties?! How awesome is that.

Yup, I'm not kidding. Although these guys come precooked in a secret sauce.

Yup, they come out like this... straight from the box and ready to eat.

This was our lil' set up. There was definitely a lot of food but the crawfish and cheese pie stole the limelight. Yes, we had hats and all.

Cooking breakfast for Adel - he didn't trust my eggs-making-skills so I had to show him how it's done.

Lots and lots of parsley... I think he misses homemade tabouleh.

Swedish eggs... they're pretty cute!

Combine the ingredients and add some creme fraiche. Trust me.

YUM!

International Food Market in the City Centre - so much fun!

The paella stand is to die for...

The prince's cake... uber light and delicious.

Adel cooking us traditional lentil soup with spinach and pine nut beef the way his mother would make it.

Lentil soup w/ extra lemon and olive oil.  OH SO DELICIOUS.

Having lunch with our wonderful host, Angelique.

I have to start making this dish.

Paludan - the best place ever in CPH.

Our lunch within an art gallery within a library... fantastic!

We make out way to La Glace - the oldest bakery in CPH and because they only have paperware - everything was 50% off. SCORE!!! We went there three times within a 2.5 day span.

Back in SLM, I brown some pork shoulder to make an outrageous curry for my BFF.

The aroma was definitely intoxicating - it's been a while since he has had a home cooked meal.

I call this my mise en place.

I make a hearty chicken soup with carrots, corn, and cabbage. The 3 C's!

The finished product...

Crisp green beans tossed with crunchy candied garlic...

No meal is complete without a yummy and healthy salad.

And that's all folks. I failed to take the many photos of food I ate at restaurants for fear of looking like a tool.  This was me on my ride to CPH.