Congee is to comfort food as chicken soup is to comfort food. It’s a rice porridge that the rice eating nations of the world prepare in different ways and is usually eaten for breakfast or fed to you by your mother when you’re feeling sick.

It was a blast right into my childhood when mum cooked abalone congee for us when we were visiting in Adelaide. I hadn’t eaten the dish or even thought about it since I lived at home with mum. Eating it again reminded me of a time when I would open the fridge and it would be magically stocked with food and when being sick meant that I would get to eat congee in bed.

Mum’s congee was awesome and so fresh so I stole her recipe and added a poached egg into it. A runny egg always makes a dish taste better 🙂

Here’s the recipe:

Abalone and chicken congee

Ingredients for the congee:

3 cups cooked jasmine rice

2 chicken legs/drumsticks (about 400g)

3.5 cups chicken stock (from boiling the chicken drumsticks)

3-inch piece of ginger

Fish sauce, to taste

1 can of abalone (optional)

Ingredients for the garnish:

2 spring onions, thinly sliced

½ cup of coriander, finely chopped

½ cup Asian basil, finely chopped

½ small red onion, finely chopped

Black pepper, to taste

Soy sauce, to taste

4 poached eggs (instructions below)

Lemon wedges

Method:

1)   Slice the abalone and reserve the broth for later

2)   Boil the chicken (in just enough water to cover it) for 20 minutes

3)   Strain the chicken broth (to remove the scum) and reserve for later

4)   Shred the Chicken and set aside

5)   In a large saucepan, bring the 3.5 cups of chicken stock and ginger to a boil over medium heat.

6)   Add the rice and lower the heat to medium-low and allow the mixture to simmer until the rice is soft and the liquid has thickened.

7)   Once thickened to your preference, remove the ginger and add the abalone (remember, abalone only needs a few minutes to cook before it gets rubbery)

8)   If you would like the congee to be a thinner consistency, add the remaining chicken stock or abalone broth until you reach the desired consistency

9)   Taste the porridge and add the fish sauce to taste.

10) To serve, divide among four bowls.

11) Top each with a poached egg, then garnish with a sprinkling of spring onion, coriander, Asian basil and red onion.

12) Drizzle with lemon juice and soy sauce to taste and add black pepper if desired.

Serves 4

How to make a poached egg:

1) Bring a pot filled with water to just under a boil.

2) If your water has already started to boil, lower the heat until the water is no longer boiling.

3) Crack an egg into a small bowl.

4) Add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to the water.

5) Slowly drop the egg into the water.

6) Use a spoon to push back the egg whites onto the egg, so that it can form together.

7) Turn off the heat.

8) Cover the pot.

9) Let sit for 4 minutes, and then remove the egg with a slotted spoon.

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