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Pictorial: Congee (Jook) with Salted Pork


hzrt8w

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Thanks for the great pictures/thread. Do you eat congee with chopsticks? and are those HK toppings eaten with a plain congee or a flavoured one as demonstrated?  are they mixed into the bowl or taken as though the bowl of Congee were one of steamed rice?

Typically only with a Chinese spoon for most varieties of congees. Sometimes, only when eating congee with pork stomachs, squids or other "easy to grab" items then we use chopsticks along with a spoon.

Re: toppings

Both. The toppings can go with favored or plain congees. What toppings will be given depends on the restaurants. Of course, you may ask for specific toppings when you order.

In Hong Kong, also, when we eat congee as breakfast we usually order something else along with it (or else it's a bit boring). The typical choices are:

- cheung fun - steamed rice noodles, topped with soy, sesame, hoisin sauce and (optional) hot sauce. The rice noodles typically have dried shrimps and green onions as well.

- soy sauce chow mein

- you2 tieo2 [Mandarin] - deep-fried bread dough

- zha leung [Cantonese] - single deep-dried bread dough with steamed rice noodles wrapped around, top with sweet soy sauce

- joong - boiled sticky-rice wrapped in bamboo leaves

W.K. Leung ("Ah Leung") aka "hzrt8w"
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Ok, hzrt, now you need to take this pictorial a little further: I want to see images of congee (jook) from different parts of China -  Teochew, HK, Guangdong, Beijing!

Hey... I am always looking for sponsors for a pan-Asia gastronomy trip! I can hit Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Beijing and KL, perhaps Singapore too in 30 days. I will bring my Cybershot, laptop and will detail everything I eat during the trip. Would you be interested to be a sponsor? :raz: Now is a great time to sponsor me because I don't have any other contract obligation! :laugh: School? Oh, hell with school! Eating is top priority!

Haven't tried roasted peanuts as a topping. I have cooked congee with peanuts.

IN HK, you just add the nuts just when you are ready to eat?

Yes they roast the peanuts - the one with red skins - with some salt separately. When serving the congee, they grab a few of the peanuts (6 to 10, something like that) and scatter them on top. A texture contrast: crunchy peanuts with smooth congee.

W.K. Leung ("Ah Leung") aka "hzrt8w"
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[...] My preferred rice for jook is plain unscented long or short grain, and for a bit more smoothness, I will use half glutinous and half plain rice. Ratio of rice to water is 1/7 at least, depending on consistency desired.

Although I have heard of people using a little bicarb to cook jook, I have never used it. It is believed that it speeds up the softening process of the rice. Anyone heard of such a thing??

Some great points. Between yours and Irwin's, I gotta try making congee with glutinous rice, bicarb and dried scallops next time. I always blame it on the MSG factor but I know I can do better even without MSG.

W.K. Leung ("Ah Leung") aka "hzrt8w"
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[...]After a little browning, I think that may make an interesting, if non-traditional jook.  My family also fights over the turkey carcass each Thanksgiving, since everyone looks forward to turkey jook. 

Yeah, we all make congee or soup with left over carcass, bones, meat scraps, shells and such. If I make congee with turkey/chicken carcass, I first boil then simmer the bones/meat for about 2 hours, strain off the bones, then add the rice to finish the process. So I don't need to spit out these bone when eating.

W.K. Leung ("Ah Leung") aka "hzrt8w"
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Does the pork remain tender like this?

First off - I know nothing about Congee, but if I tried to do any other sort of slow cooked dish I would not use such a lean cut of meat.

Yes the meat remains fairly tender. Fall apart easily when eating.

The use of pork loin is by our choice. Most people would use pork shoulders which are great too.

W.K. Leung ("Ah Leung") aka "hzrt8w"
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I make congee frequently during the winter months. We usually like to give it a bit of a Japanese flavor by cooking the rice in a weak dashi (dried bonito-kelp stock), adding fried tofu, seaweeds, mushrooms, ginger & garlic, a little soy sauce, boiled soy beans (edamame), and sometimes some fish cake. Sprinkle with Japanese red pepper and 7-spice pepper---yummy!

He who distinguishes the true savor of his food can never be a glutton; he who does not cannot be otherwise. --- Henry David Thoreau
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Instead of using glutinous rice, I make mine with regular long grain rice but just before serving I stir in some glutinous rice slurry to give it that smooth silky consistency.

That's what we do too! But we make ours with jasmine rice because that is what we normally eat.

Maybe hzrt8w should apply for one of those eG scholarships...

regards,

trillium

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I was discussing "Congee" with my friends grandmother who is visiting from "Hong Kong" where they own several Congee/Noodle Restaurants for over 50 years.

She bawled me out for not mentioning about their added secret ingredient to which she attributes their customer loyalty.

They ad the "Dry Scallops" but also ad some "Dry Duck Gizzards".

I did forget to mention them, but I use the Duck Gizzards to enhance any dry vegetables or even fresh vegetables being used in a Broth or Clear Soup.

They are generally under utilized as it's relatively recently available at better Asian markets. They are versatile even when complimenting Chicken, Beef or Pork dishes.

I find that most Rice is adaptable to Congee [except Uncle Ben's] it mostly a matter of adjusting the cooking time, fluid balance. I have had several occassions when I lacked patience and dumped the gloop into a food processor just long enough to break apart the already cooked rice then let it simmer long enough to forgive my impulse. It still tastes the same, and my grand daughters even though pre-teens and teens still prefer their "Congee" plain with side dishes to pick from.

The type of Rice that works the best every time is the popular "Hinode" or short grain Rices popular in Hawaii with some added Talcum. [don't ask me why?]

Be prepared when you see the prices charged for Dry Scallops or Dry Duck Gizzard. Just keep in mind a little goes a long way.

Irwin

I don't say that I do. But don't let it get around that I don't.

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muichoi,Oct 17 2005, 02:44 AM]

Thanks for the great pictures/thread. Do you eat congee with chopsticks? and are those HK toppings eaten with a plain congee or a flavoured one as demonstrated? are they mixed into the bowl or taken as though the bowl of Congee were one of steamed rice?

Ok, hzrt, now you need to take this pictorial a little further: I want to see images of congee (jook) from different parts of China - Teochew, HK, Guangdong, Beijing!

Depending on what ingredients/toppings you have in your jook, you could use both a spoon and chopsticks. Yau tieu, green onions, ginger threads, cilantro, and chili radish are my usual toppings. With my family of meat eaters, I never make plain congee, but the toppings are usually added all at once. We do add more as needed.

Haven't tried roasted peanuts as a topping. I have cooked congee with peanuts.

IN HK, you just add the nuts just when you are ready to eat?

In the congee shop in HK, most of the ingredients are already in the bowl of congee so you just add white pepper to it. Toppings like yau tieu, green onions, ginger threads, cilantro, and chili radish are not common seen on the table. Some people eat like that at home but at congee restaurant, they usually just serve a bowl of congee with your choice of ingredients. If you order fish or chicken congee then a bowl of soya sauce with ginger and green onion should accompany the congee.

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I must admit that I am not a super fan of Congee- I run hot and bowl of hot thick broth just makes me sweat too much.... ick.

In HK - I love the congee at the little shop in Sheung Wan - cannot remember the name of it... but its in a tiny alley and is very famous. The congee come s with meat balls that have watercress chopped into them - oh so good.

In Vancouver - there is a place called Double Double and the congee is soo good. Amazingly creamy - so creamy in fact that it makes me suspicous of what is in it... my Aunt says that it may be oatmeal that has been powdered in a blender. That way the get the creaminess - but it won't 'break' like if you over cook the rice congee.

Mmmmm - it is a cold and drizzly day in Vancouver today. Perfect congee weather.

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In Vancouver - there is a place called Double Double and the congee is soo good.  Amazingly creamy - so creamy in fact that it makes me suspicous of what is in it...  my Aunt says that it may be oatmeal that has been powdered in a blender.  That way the get the creaminess - but it won't 'break' like if you over cook the rice congee. 

I use a large whisk to "blend" the congee when it is ready to serve if I want it creamier.

You can also make it creamier by "thickening" with rice flour.

One of my sons likes pork silk in his congee...He also likes to eat the pork out-of-hand.

Dejah

www.hillmanweb.com

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In Vancouver - there is a place called Double Double and the congee is soo good.  Amazingly creamy - so creamy in fact that it makes me suspicous of what is in it...  my Aunt says that it may be oatmeal that has been powdered in a blender.  That way the get the creaminess - but it won't 'break' like if you over cook the rice congee. 

I use a large whisk to "blend" the congee when it is ready to serve if I want it creamier.

You can also make it creamier by "thickening" with rice flour.

One of my sons likes pork silk in his congee...He also likes to eat the pork out-of-hand.

That what every kid does, and so called adults like me. I actually try every brand that becomes available at the grocers. The stuffs addictive, reasonably priced and takes the edge off your hunger.

It's also a nice enhancer with Ramen.

Irwin

I don't say that I do. But don't let it get around that I don't.

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what is pork silk?

I think that was referring to pork "sung" [Cantonese] (肉鬆)- dry pork shreds. Very popular in Taiwan.

Some images from Google:

Images of dry pork shreds

The one image labelled "肉鬆です 日本で言う田麩です" seems best.

Edited by hzrt8w (log)
W.K. Leung ("Ah Leung") aka "hzrt8w"
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I see! It is soboro in Japanese.

Another question:

I have noticing that in these food title the Chinese character for pork is just 肉, in Japanese this is the character for meat in general and is usually preceded by a different character to specify a certain kind.

豚肉 pork

牛肉 beef

鶏肉 chicken

Is it because pork is the most common meat?

Sometimes in Japan you will see only the character 肉 in a title and it means different things depending on where you are, but in general meat names will consist of two characters.

Are the Japanese characters similar to the Chinese ones.

I love Chinese characters they fasciante me. :biggrin:

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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I have noticing that in these food title the Chinese character for pork is  just 肉, in Japanese this is the character for meat in general and is usually preceded by a different character to specify a certain kind.

豚肉 pork

牛肉 beef

鶏肉 chicken

.....

Are the Japanese characters similar to the Chinese ones.

Yes, in Chinese "肉" just means "meat" - a generic description. You need to have another character, such as 牛 or 鶏 in front of it to specify what kind of meat.

However, the word 肉 without any specification of what kind of meat implies that it is pork. You will find that used often in Chinese menus. The reason for that: In the old days, China was an agricultural based society. Pigs and chickens were raised and slaughtered regularly so pork and chicken were common. Beef was not. (Cows - in generic terms - were used to plow land.)

Are Japanese characters similar to the Chinese ones? Yes, of course. The Japanese "kanji" characters were imported from China (about a thousand year ago was it?). :laugh:

Edited by hzrt8w (log)
W.K. Leung ("Ah Leung") aka "hzrt8w"
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Are Japanese characters similar to the Chinese ones?  Yes, of course.  The Japanese "janji" characters were imported from China (about a thousand year ago was it?).  :laugh:

When I was a very young kid, about a thousand years ago, I had the habit of hanging around the local Chinese restaurant in the small northern Quebec mining town where we settled after immigrating to Canada. Two of the regulars who came in the kitchen door were elderly Japanese gentlemen who drifted into the area after their liberation from the Internment Camps of WWll. Each time they visited, almost before the usual greetings were said, they sat down with a pot of Chinese tea and read the Chinese papers that the proprietors had sent in from Toronto. I asked how come they could read Chinese, but my adult Chinese friends could not read more than half of the written Japanese.

Then someone proceded to explain to me how the Japanese were able to do that. It appears that "ganji" or the Chinese written language was "the" working language" of Japan and as such, every schoolkid had to learn it, besides their own sets of words -hiragana and katakana (Kris, what are the proper names?). As Ah Leung said, it was brought over by a Buddhist monk/missionary about 800 years ago. That Buddhist monk is a very famous figure in Japanese history and folklore. Before his advent, Japan had no written language, according to my understanding.

Please don't hold me to the facts of this story, because I am repeating a story that I heard 53 years ago.

Another story (this one more fanciful) that I heard was that even earlier than that, there was a successful attempt to civilize the Japanese Islands by China. The tale recounts how the Chinese Emporer on hearing that those islands were inhabited only by wild men (Ainu) decided that it would be good for the Empire to civilize the region. He sent a colonizing expedition comprising of 500 young men and 500 young women, the most beautiful to be found in China, each one with a special skill, craft or learning to the "new land". Those were the seeds of Japan as we know it. Believe it or don't. :hmmm::wink::rolleyes:

Regardless of fanciful tales, there is that indisputable fact that Japanese culture, literature, art, music, etc. is heavily influenced by China. One of my dear friends, a retired Japanese diplomat, said it best: "Japan looks on China as the west looks upon Greece and Rome".

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

I made congee (jook) and ma po tofu tonight following Ah Leung's recipes(a big thank you ), they were delicious, this is the closest I got to taste like the one in restaurants, didn't have the slower cooker, so use the stove top method for the congee, have anyone ever made congee in a pressure cooker before ? wondering how it would work.

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  • 2 months later...
I made congee (jook) and ma po tofu tonight following Ah Leung's recipes(a big thank you ),  they were delicious, this is the closest I got to taste like the one in restaurants,  didn't have the slower cooker, so use the stove top method for the congee, have anyone ever made congee  in a pressure cooker before ? wondering how it would work.

when i was younger....not that im that old...only 21 here. our cook sometimes used the pressure cooker to cook congee specially when she's pressed for time, although i dont like the texture of it when its cooked that way, the rice does get soft quick and will also tenderize any meat you cook it with, but its always soupy, but it gets better the day after when the starch finally seeps out of the cooked rice and thickens it or after adding leftover cooked rice from lunch and boiling it for about an hour.

But whenever our cook is in her better moods she makes the most awesome congee ever, with pork stomach, beef tripe, and chicken or duck gizzards. boiled for a few hours over the stove cooked on a thick bottomed pot. nice, rich, thick and creamy and she would add some leftover rice about 20 min before serving it, so you will have some rice with some bite to it as well, nice play of textures. and we eat it with the side dishes on separate plates, century eggs, yau tieu, pork silk, pickled chili cucumbers, fermented bean curds, chili lo bok, chinese style fruit flavored beef jerky, cilantro, green onions, etc. oh and a raw duck, chicken or three quail eggs at the bottom of the bowl, then ladle the boiling congee in and then you stir it so the yolk mixes with the congee giving it a yellowish tinge. and the white coagulates into smooth curdles.....sigh.... memories.

...a little bit of this, and a little bit of that....*slurp......^_^.....ehh I think more fish sauce.

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