I made more than enough meatballs few days ago for a soup. Well… I was thinking of what to do with the remaining meatballs, then I thought… maybe I can make congee with it! So I went out to buy a butternut squash and a lettuce and make congee. In case you’re wondering what congee is, it’s type of rice porridge. People usually eat it when they’re not feeling well, but I eat it whenever I like it.
Hmm… the recipe for congee… it’s just rice with LOTS of water, and you cook it for 60-90 minutes. How much water depends on what kind of congee you like. Some people like to have the rice texture, so they’d put in less water and cook it for a shorter time. For me, I like it very liquidy, so I add lots of water. My co-worker once said it should be 1 portion of uncooked rice to 10 portions of water. You cook the rice with water with high heat first. When the water boils, turn it to slow heat and let it cook. This is your congee base.
Once you have the congee base, you can then put whatever you like in the congee. This time I’m using the 12 meatballs from the soup, half a butternut squash (cubed), and a few leaves of lettuce (thinly sliced). I put the meatballs, butternut squash and lettuce in when the congee was the texture that I liked. Then when then meatballs and butternut squash were cooked, the congee’s ready!
Some other ingredients I like to put in are corn, dried scallops, minced beef, eggs, etc. It really is whatever you like to put in. Oh! One thing I ALWAYS put in in ginger… I think people put gingers in to make the congee taste better.
Some tips of making congee:
1) Don’t cook it with close lid! It spills very easily!
2) It also burns very easily. Always stir it to prevent sticking. Some people say you can put a spoon at the bottom of the pot to prevent sticking. I have tried it once but I forgot if I burnt it or not… haha!
Food Lab Asia 