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Make Congee like the Cantonese (Shunde style)

Chinese Cooking Demystified
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Hey guys, a few notes: 1. In the introduction, I (sort of erroneously?) used a Teochew/Thai-Chinese style of 'congee' called Khao Tom (ข้าวต้ม) to illustrate "too thin". This sort of thing totally exists within the Cantonese cooking system too: it's called tong faan (汤饭, Mandarin name 'paofan', 泡饭), is a homecooking classic, and is absolutely acceptable. And while obviously quite Teochew, both me and Steph quite like the restaurant where I took this footage (https://maps.app.goo.gl/6CqjizxR4AxcpGNs5). In hindsight, we probably should've just whipped up some too-thin congee ourselves to illustrate the point. 2. Because this is the internet, I really really want to emphasize that we are not giving Ethan Chlebowski shade for his congee or anything. In our upcoming couple videos, we're going to be going over a few dishes that exist in that... 'liminal-space-between-cultures' (next video, a popular bakery item in China these days; the following, episode two of our ongoing "western food in Asia" series), which's a particular passion of ours. So it's actually really interesting to see the direction his mind went with it - and the direction many congees online out there go. I've got a whole ramble-y discussion on the topic in the Substack post, for the curious. 3. If you don't have access to dried scallop or dried shrimp, fish sauce can hit similar notes. However, you would want to add it to the final seasoning of the congee - something like 1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp should do the job. 4. The Patreon Discord was quick to correct us that in many places you can find broken rice, if you have a good Vietnamese grocer. It's called Gạo tấm, and makes for a popular dish in South Vietnam called Cơm tấm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C6%A1m_t%E1%BA%A5m . Still, our homemade-artisinally-broken rice also totally does the trick (and is not very difficult). 5. Oh! Also, if you happen to be China-based, broken rice is called "米砂". It is not super common, so you'd likely need to purchase it online. Do note that this is not the same thing as 碎米, which is also broken rice, but is a lower grade meant for animal feed. 6. If you happen to be working from already broken rice, you still do want to marinate the rice for ~15 minutes with the salt and peanut oil before starting the congee. That's all for now, might edit some more notes in in a bit :)
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An interesting fact. I live in Brazil and we also have the exact same dish, we call it "canja", which is basically a rice porridge/soup usually with chicken and potato that eat when we are sick. There's obviously an asian influence that arrived here centuries ago. The name is almost the same, the idea is almost the same and the food is almost the same. I wonder how it went from Asia to Brazil lol
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I remember when I first got into Asian cooking 5-6 years ago I bought the cheapest 50lb bag of jasmine rice from a brand I trust. When I got home that day, I was forced to learn that broken rice was a product on the market. Had lots of practice making congee for the next 4 months!
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Interesting that the broken rice kernels are used for congee in China. I used to work at a rice mill whilst at UC Davis in N. California. I ran the machine than took the husks off the rice. Broken kernels were totally a function of how I set the machine...drums too close, nearly all the kernels were "dehusked"...with the drawback that it increased the broken %. We shot for 10% broken for normal Calrose, and 2% broken Calrose for sushi rice. Interestingly, the broken kernels weren't sold for consumption. We'd load railcars with the "brokens" and they'd be shipped to Anheuser-Busch's plant in Fairfield to make beer. 🤷‍♀️
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West African markets should also have broken rice available, It's traditional for many of the flavored rice dishes within West African cuisines (like Jollof rice for example). It's great for making kofte and stuffing. Glad I have another recipe in my back pocket!
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I definitely need to try more congee - I've only ever made it once, when I was ill and didn't have any appetite, but knew that I'd just feel worse if I didn't get some form of nourishment. It was a very slapdash, google-a-ratio then chuck-stuff-in-the-pressure-cooker affair. But a couple of mouthfuls and it was like a revelation: "oh yeah, I get why rice porridge is such a big thing for such a big proportion of the world's population now"
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When I was first seriously getting into Chinese food, I found congee too bland. But after trying it a few times with different add-ins, I was surprised to find I had developed a craving for it! After my neighborhood of Flushing in Queens became NYC's largest Chinese community, I had a plethora of places to have congee whenever I want. But since I'll soon be moving to a comparative Chinese-food desert, having your easy and typically well-explained method at my disposal will be very valuable to me. My thanks to you both!
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I generally much prefer the okayu ratios to congee ratios, but you guys never dissapoint so I'm excited to see this recipe!!
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In Tamil Nadu, we call our rice porridge "kanji", its usually very simple, just rice boiled to smithereens and served up with some salt, pepper and chilli if you're adventurous. It's a must have for anyone recovering from a fever.
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I can't believe you called my favorite style of congee "unhinged."
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For anyone who needs the tip, I actually can find broken rice at my SEAsian grocer here in the United States, the same brand I buy my jasmine rice too. Take a look, and they might have it.
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This is the first time I've come across a video that specifically talks about something from 顺德。 It's a city very close to my heart ❤
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My unhinged congee favorite is thai num tok inspired. Congee topped with grilled beef, cilantro, green onions, red onions, toasted crushed rice, lime, fish sauce, and shriracha!
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Day old left over rice and using a whisk is typically what happens in my house hold. I find i get the similar texture really quick. I do eat rice everyday though so it's more conivnient. I love fish and pork balls too. Sometimes ill so velveted pork slices which also works. Velveting is incrediblely affective in congee. Great recipe, reminds me of back in Hong Kong!
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I'm not too picky about my congee. I use 1 cup of medium grain rice to 10 cups of stock/water in my instant pot pressure cooker. Cook for 1 hour on high, with a natural release. Add the protein, some ginger, a little chili crisp, and any veg in the fridge I need to get rid of. Thanks for the video!
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Ever since I heard about broken rice for congee a year ago, I've been cutting my cook time in half by running it through an old coffee grinder that I hadn't got rid of yet.
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I'm stirring both ways, I can't be stopped
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I adore congee and am fortunate enough to be able to buy broken rice and even frozen prepped rice. learned so much from this video thank you i use way too much seasoning in my broth in this comforting wonderful dish. I will follow your steps precisely thank you so much!❤
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I can't stop comparing congee to grits in my head while watching this, which makes me wonder if you could make some kind of congee with ham hocks and collard greens...
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Thanks for sharing this, I love your videos. It’s always educational and very detailed enough for a person who is not that familiar on how to cook Chinese dishes like me. So thanks a million for this. I hope you come out with a cook book with the same approach like your videos to inform and educate and teach people how to cook Chinese recipes. You make it seem to easy every single time in each video to cook Chinese food. ❤❤❤🙏🙏🙏
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