For a Chinese southerner, what food can be more warm and comforting than a hot bowl of pork congee (粥)?  The humble congee is the sort of food kids get when they are sick.  It is also a popular street food and you will find it at ‘yum cha’. Coogee goes well with fried noodles, Chinese donuts and it is delicious by itself. You can eat it with the thick & bulky Chinese ceramic spoon, or raise the bowl to your lips and slurp it.

A pressure cooker works best to make congee (about 35 minutes), but a non-stick saucepan over the stove top will work as well.

Here is my lunch today, brown rice congee with salted pork and peanuts.

Ingredients

(Serves 3 as a FODMAP recipe)

• 1 cup of brown rice
• 8 cup of water (more or less depending on your preference for the congee’s thickness)
• 50g pork belly
• 30g roasted peanuts
• salt & pepper
• to garnish, green part of shallot (scallion) or coriander, chopped (optional)

Method

• In  bowl, rub 1 tbsp. of salt all over the pork belly, cover with cling wrap and leave in fridge overnight; the next day, rinse the pork belly & cut the pork belly into very small strips
• Add 1 cup of brown rice and 6 cups of water to a non-stick saucepan, bring to boil; add salted pork and peanuts, bring to boil; turn the heat down to simmer to cook for 2-3 hours or until the rice to your desired texture, adding more water as it cooks.
• To serve, garnish congee with green shallot or coriander (optional)

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