1
00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:08,560
Cantonese are famed for being… particular… about\h
their congee. Something like this? …is too thin.\h\h

2
00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:13,480
Something like this? … is too thick. A congee\h
should be flavorful, but you also shouldn’t\h\h

3
00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:19,120
go nuts and try to use a strong stock like you\h
sometimes see in the west. Now you’re certainly\h\h

4
00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:25,360
free to object to such objections, because I mean,\h
there are plenty of ways people globally crack the\h\h

5
00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:32,400
congee nut, but what is undeniable is that the\h
Pearl River Delta whips up a fantastic congee.\h\h

6
00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:39,520
As early as 1910, writer and Hangzhou native Xuke\h
extolled the stuff in his Biji Qingbai Leichao and\h\h

7
00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:44,920
personally, I’ve converted more than a few\h
congee-skeptical China expats with various\h\h

8
00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:51,120
Dim Sum or nongzhuang fare around Shunde,\h
one of the epicenters of Cantonese cuisine.

9
00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:55,040
Of course, if you know\h
anything about Cantonese food,\h\h

10
00:00:55,040 --> 00:01:00,080
you might assume that a congee like\h
this must obviously use some sort of\h\h

11
00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:07,160
crazy, time intensive technique. But.. it\h
actually… doesn’t. This sort of Shunde-style\h\h

12
00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:13,960
congee, 生滚粥, is actually quicker than a lot\h
of congees out there. It’s also… pretty easy,\h\h

13
00:01:13,960 --> 00:01:20,040
infinitely adjustable, and the mise actually\h
fits really well inside of a home kitchen.

14
00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:29,160
Because the key to it? Is… this: broken rice.\h
This stuff is basically what it says on the tin,\h\h

15
00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:35,280
rice grains that were somehow damaged in storage\h
or transport, traditionally make for a lower grade\h\h

16
00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:41,160
of rice consumed by the working class. Over time\h
though, people found that it actually made for a\h\h

17
00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:47,000
really excellent congee and in Guangdong today is\h
sold as a specific product meant for pretty much\h\h

18
00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:54,480
exactly this use case. Of course, I definitely\h
understand, I can already hear your cries of\h\h

19
00:01:54,480 --> 00:02:00,160
“Chris, Steph, I don’t live in Shunde, I can’t\h
exactly purchase broken rice at a Sam’s Club”.\h\h

20
00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:06,560
Luckily for us though, broken rice isn’t…\h
exactly a high technology ingredient. To\h\h

21
00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:14,520
produce some wherever you are, all you need\h
to do is take some rice and… break some rice.

22
00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:19,400
But before we get there, let’s first take eighty\h
grams of jasmine rice and give it a good rinse\h\h

23
00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:24,520
under running water. Then just toss that in a bowl\h
and marinate it at first with a quarter teaspoon\h\h

24
00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:30,120
each of salt and peanut oil. Then… let\h
it sit for about twenty minutes… and then\h\h

25
00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:36,120
after that time you should be looking at something\h
a good bit softer, something much easier to break.\h

26
00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:39,320
So just spread that across\h
a chopping board and here,\h\h

27
00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:44,320
we’ll gently crush this with a heavy pestle,\h
but you could equally use a good rolling pin,\h\h

28
00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:49,320
a heavy beer bottle, whatever. Some’ll be\h
a little more broken, some a little less,\h\h

29
00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:55,120
that’s fine just do your best… and then\h
now this is ready to make some congee.

30
00:02:55,120 --> 00:03:00,960
That said, the super convenient bit about\h
this approach is that that marinated broken\h\h

31
00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:07,080
rice is… freezable. If you want a congee\h
fast, all you need to do is you grab it\h\h

32
00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:12,000
straight from frozen and start your congee\h
with that – no need to thaw, and it actually\h\h

33
00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:18,880
breaks down faster. So you can marinate a big\h
batch, portion it out into individual baggies,\h\h

34
00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:24,320
and if you start from there you can\h
get some congee in 30 minutes flat.

35
00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:29,840
Either way. High level overview of what’ll\h
be going on here. There’s gunna be two broad\h\h

36
00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:35,680
stages to a Shunde style congee: there’ll be\h
the congee base, called the 粥底and the finishing,\h\h

37
00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:40,880
which is when you’ll add in your add ins. At\h
a restaurant, what they’d do is keep the 粥底on\h\h

38
00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:46,920
the side, and then when you order, they’ll top it\h
with whatever specific style that you specified.\h

39
00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:53,680
So for the base, the rice to water ratio\h
is one part rice to sixteen parts water.\h\h

40
00:03:53,680 --> 00:04:00,000
So here we dutifully have our 1.28 liters\h
of water, feel free to be a normal person\h\h

41
00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:06,800
with 1.3… together with a half centimeter slice of\h
crushed ginger, ¼ tsp of crushed white pepper, and\h\h

42
00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:13,360
5 pieces of dried scallop for a little base umami…\h
you could also use dried shrimp or just skip it.\h\h

43
00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:19,760
Then once that’s all at a rapid boil, begin to\h
sprinkle your broken rice in. Then… once it’s all\h\h

44
00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:25,680
in and everything’s back up to a rapid boil, swap\h
the flame down to medium and keep everything at a\h\h

45
00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:32,280
heavy simmer. Word of warning that congee is a bit\h
infamous for overflowing, so to prevent kitchen\h\h

46
00:04:32,280 --> 00:04:39,000
disaster crack the lid with a chopstick in this\h
manner to ensure that there’s a good, sizable gap.

47
00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:43,040
Then, 30 minutes later, you should be\h
looking at a congee base that’s thick\h\h

48
00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:50,480
and creamy. So at this point just… shut off the\h
heat and then this is ready for some add-ins.

49
00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:56,400
Now, again, the whole essence here is that you\h
can really add in whatever - in Shunde it can\h\h

50
00:04:56,400 --> 00:05:02,760
even like take up a whole menu. Today, we wanted\h
to show you two classics – fish fillets which’re\h\h

51
00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:09,120
pretty easy… pork meatballs, which’re a touch more\h
intense… but to really highly the versatility,\h\h

52
00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:15,240
we also got a bit creative and whipped up an\h
- admittedly unhinged - carbonara-inspired\h\h

53
00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:21,360
congee that at the very least is a decent\h
chance to show you the wodan egg technique.

54
00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:28,480
So. Fish up first – here we’ve got 200 grams\h
of fillet, freshwater is classic in Shunde but\h\h

55
00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:33,840
do use what you have… sliced at an angle\h
into half centimeter pieces. Then just mix\h\h

56
00:05:33,840 --> 00:05:40,160
in a quarter teaspoon each salt, MSG, and white\h
pepper together with one teaspoon of cornstarch...\h\h

57
00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:46,080
gently mix, then coat it all with about one\h
tablespoon of peanut oil and set it aside.

58
00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:50,800
Then, just grab your base and bring the\h
thing up to a rapid boil, season it with\h\h

59
00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:55,400
a final seasoning which’s up here on the\h
screen, then slide those fish pieces in and\h\h

60
00:05:55,400 --> 00:06:00,680
shut off the heat. Give it a gentle mix\h
to let the residual heat cook the fish,\h\h

61
00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:05,880
and then just finish it all off with a\h
bit of chopped scallion and cilantro.

62
00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:10,440
Then, for the meatball one, I guess this still\h
isn’t all that intense in the grand scheme\h\h

63
00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:15,880
of things. Here we’ve got 180 grams worth\h
of ground collar, you could use shoulder,\h\h

64
00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:19,760
and we’ll continue to give that a hand mince\h
for a couple of minutes in order to give it\h\h

65
00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:25,760
a springier end texture. Once it’s become\h
obviously sticky, transfer it over to a bowl…\h

66
00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:30,480
toss in the seasoning, up here on the screen,\h
and thoroughly mix it for about two minutes in\h\h

67
00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:36,280
one direction only. You’ll know it’s ready once it\h
can leave little streaks on the side of the bowl,\h\h

68
00:06:36,280 --> 00:06:41,240
then optionally fold in three reconstituted and\h
minced wood ear mushrooms for a bit of color and\h\h

69
00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:47,640
crunch, and then finish it all with about a half\h
tablespoon of peanut oil. Give that a couple ‘dat’\h\h

70
00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:53,560
against the side of the bowl for good measure,\h
and then this is ready to hit some congee.

71
00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:59,640
So, again, just heat up your congee, season it\h
just like before, and then swap the flame to\h\h

72
00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:05,720
low. Then, take your pork mixture and use a\h
spoon to shape it into a rough ‘ball’ shape,\h\h

73
00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:11,920
gently placing them in one by one. Then, once\h
in, swap the flame back to high and boil it\h\h

74
00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:18,360
for one minute to cook the pork, then… top\h
that all with a bit of cilantro and scallion.

75
00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:24,440
Then, final monstrosity our [chuckle]\h
carbonara congee, nothing complicated,\h\h

76
00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:30,040
just 25 grams of thinly sliced pancetta, 30\h
grams of pecorino romano, both of which were\h\h

77
00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:35,680
added to the same bubbling congee base.\h
Then, for that wodan, all you need to do\h\h

78
00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:43,080
is quickly crack in an egg in to the congee\h
and immediately shut off the heat. You’re not\h\h

79
00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:46,840
trying to poach the thing – the residual heat\h
will do the job. Then… pour that in a bowl,\h\h

80
00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:53,080
the egg’ll slide up to the top, and finish\h
it all off with a bit of chopped scallion.

81
00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:58,480
So! In Cantonese cooking, besides this kind of\h
savory congee, there’s also sweet congee – but\h\h

82
00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:03,640
those are always made specifically. Like…\h
rice with red bean, or rice with mungbean,\h\h

83
00:08:03,640 --> 00:08:09,240
or even rice with winter melon…\h
unlike this style of savory base,\h\h

84
00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:15,480
where you have this sort of umami congee, and\h
THEN you add it whatever you like. So right!\h\h

85
00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:19,000
Check out the recipe in the description\h
box, a big thank you to everyone that’s\h\h

86
00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:24,403
supporting us on Patreon… and of course,\h
subscribe for more Chinese cooking videos!