Feeling a bit under the weather?
Perhaps dehydrated from a night of libations and gaiety?
Maybe you don’t even remember last night.
Ok, I can’t really make any guarantees on the memories, but the first two problems we can probably fix.
Juk or congee as my people call it is one of those things that just makes everything better. Seriously. It’s like oatmeal and soup and your po-po/grandma’s love all rolled into one amazing bowl of delicousness. Unicorns would eat it if they could boil water. True story.
Ingredients
- Some bones
- 1 Thousand Year old Egg
- Slice of ginger
- 1 cup of rice
- Water
- Salt
- Pepper
- Green onions
Ok. So it’s all in the bones. Preferably your bones are from an animal that’s been roasted such as chicken or some pork. You can also use ham hocks to fabulous effect. The one exotic thing I have on that ingredients list is the thousand year old egg.
Yes. It looks like a rock. No. It’s not really a thousand years old and don’t believe anything anyone tells you about them. They maybe black, but trust me once you’ve had juk with the rich thousand year old egg you won’t go back. You can sub a standard egg in there, but the thousand year old gives it a certain je ne sais quoi.
Prep
None? Wash your rice a few times by rinsing it off a few times.
Cooking
Get a stock going by bringing the bones to a boil in a pot with 3 cups or so of water and adding a slice of ginger. My mom likes to julienne the ginger, but I don’t really like bits of ginger surprising me as I enjoy my warm luscious juk. I think, scientifically, the smaller bits with the higher surface area increase the infusion of the ginger flavor, but eh. Up to you. Let this broth simmer for 30 minutes or so.
Add your washed rice and bring it to a rolling boil as to circulate the rice grains and prevent it from sticking to the bottom of your pot and burning. As the juk gets thicker and thicker reduce the heat until its low. Stir often every 10 minutes or so to make sure you don’t get any sticking. Cut up your into slices or quarters and add it. Continue to cook for 5 minutes or so. Now this is where many schools diverge and your own personal preferences come into play. Some people like their juk super thin like soup. Other’s like it thick like oatmeal or chowder. I like it somewhere in between. Basically continue cooking the juk over low heat until you get to where u like it. When you get the consistency you like salt and pepper it to taste. Garnish with some green onions and you’re good to go. If you can find a bakery that makes the long Chinese doughnuts those are the traditional side to it, but toast will do too. A side of kimichi can go a long way as a nice acidic bite to the rice.
I’m not gonna lie when I was a kid I ate a lot of juk toast sandwiches when I was sick. I know. You’re like whoa your making a sammich with rice porridge? To that I say, yup. They’re damned good.