Rice Porridge (Congee)

Rice porridge (congee) also called “Mov Kua Dis” in Hmong (pronounced as moa-kua-dee in white dialect, or pronounced as moa-kua-klee in green dialect – which is the dialect I speak) is a popular dish among the asian culture. Some asian cultures eat rice porridge as breakfast, but I grew up eating it throughout the day for some days. The reason so is because usually my parents would make a large batch and we would eat it throughout the day or even days afterwards. Rice is such a staple in itself, and rice porridge was one of the ways to deliciously eat this staple.

Over the years I’ve revamped my own version of rice porridge. Traditionally, rice porridge (congee) is made with the basics of 1) uncooked short-grained white rice, 2) water, and sometimes sugar. My parents feed this simple meal to my son and they themselves still eat this version from time to time. This recipe progressed to my parents using chicken and chicken broth, for added gourmet, and that was the start to me loving this dish and quite frankly the broth base for my version.

This dish evolved using a variety of condiments such as chili oil, fish oil, soy sauce, sriracha sauce, oyster sauce, and garnishments of green onion and cilantro. The garnishments gradually progressed to avocado, fried egg, and salmon or essentially anything that I would have at hand that would go well with it.

Every now and then when I miss a sense of nostalgia of family meals, this is definitely a recipe that I turn to and I hope you do too. If you have tried this recipe, feel free to tag me or use hashtag #recipesbykayklalor. I would love to see what you’ve made.

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Serving Size: 2 | Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

Short-Grained White Rice (1/2 cup), uncooked
Chicken Broth or Homemade Vegetable Broth (2 cups)
Cooked Protein (your choice of rotisserie chicken/leftover chicken or chicken thighs, smoked salmon, shrimp), small handful shredded or bite size
Egg (1), cooked – over easy
Green onion (1 stalk), chopped
Cilantro (4 stems), chopped
Fish Sauce (1-2 dashes)
Soy Sauce (1-2 dashes)
Chili Oil (1/2 teaspoon)
Sriracha Sauce (1/2 teaspoon or to taste)
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste
Root Ginger (2 slices)
Lemon Grass (1 stalk)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (1 teaspoon)

Kitchen Essentials

Directions

Boil your choice of broth in a small saucepan on medium to high heat.
Add ginger slices and lemon grass.
Add short-grained white rice and stir religiously with a cooking utensil until rice has softened. Feel free to add small amounts of water if the rice mixture is too thick.
Add choice of protein and stir occasionally until cooked.
Plate rice congee mixture in a serving bowl.
Place cooked over easy egg on top of the plated bowl of cooked rice congee.
Drizzle the following condiments: fish sauce, soy sauce, chili oil, sriracha sauce.
Then add your garnishments: green onion and cilantro.
Add salt and black pepper to taste.

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