#Conji rice soup full#

He ordered his officials to make rice porridge and distribute to the starving people. Legend has it that during the rule of Emperor Yong Zheng of the Qing dynasty, a famine broke out. It was served in times of drought and famine where food are hard to come by.

Period.Ĭhinese Rice porridge is for the poor too. When we are sick, we eat Chinese rice porridge. It is really the first thing that popped into my mind. One day, I caught myself offering to buy some for a colleague when she wasn't feeling well. Its healing power is entrenches in the Chinese collective memory. Some of the oldest Chinese imperial records have mentions of it as being a premier health food. It has a long history of use as dietary therapy.

Have it sweet or savoury, thick or thin, luxurious or simple. It doesn't matter if you are a great cook or a rookie. Congee cultureĬhinese jook is a very forgiving dish. It is a catchy name compared to 'Chinese rice porridge'. The similarity between the ganji and jook was noticed and 'congee' was born (this is mere speculation, please do not cite me).Ī lot of food sites and articles on the Chinese rice porridge tend to use congee as an overall term to refer to all types of rice porridge. The way I see it, the British went to India and encountered ganji. I think congee came from the Indian language because the Indians have a similar rice dish called ganji except it is supposed to be grainer and sweet. There are also the Japanese okayu, the Korean juk, the Thai jok, and the Filipino lugao and the rice pudding (albeit sweet). Travellers to Southeast Asia will have encountered other types of rice porridge such as the Teochew/chiu chow plain rice porridge, the Hokkien sweet potato porridge and the Teochew fish porridge, especially in Singapore. The proliferation of Cantonese-styled restaurants in the West also means that this is the most familiar version of rice porridge to non-chinese. It resembles a thick rice soup and ingredients like minced meat or seafood are served in the porridge, making it a one-dish meal. Jook/Juk is the English transliteration of the Cantonese name for rice porridge. But in various parts of China and places with Chinese diaspora, there are many variations in the names as well as how the rice porridge is made and served. The most accurate English name should be rice porridge. I sympathize with non-chinese speakers who have to contend with so many Chinese dialects, different transliterations and name variations found in Chinese cuisine.Īll 3 names refer to rice cooked in a lot of water to form a thick or creamy consistency. (^ _^) What is the difference between congee, Chinese jook and Chinese rice porridge? Come to think of it, thick soups made from lentil and pumpkin have similar texture and consistency. It was quite an A-HA moment because I am so familiar with it as a rice dish that it never occur to me that others might treat it as a thick soup. With fill lines and a cooking preset specifically for porridge, just press the Start key and let your Tiger multi-functional rice cooker do its thing.It took me a few days to realise that he meant pork congee 肉粥 (rou zhou). Seriously, from this Indonesian bubur ayam to this silky Japanese nanakusa gayu – to this assertive Chinese century eggs and fish fillet porridge – whipping up congee in your Tiger rice cooker is as simple as loading everything into the inner pot.

Since this hearty porridge is so delicious, we’re all about making rice cooker congee. And that’s just a few of the many different names this soothing and comforting rice dish goes by around the globe.īut no matter whether you call it arroz caldo or chok, you’re going to love how easy it is to make this congee recipe in your rice cooker! In Indonesia, rice porridge is bubur, in Cambodia it’s bobar – and in Korea it’s called Juk. It is congee in the Guangdong province in China – and is okayu in Japan. Now, rice porridge goes by a ton of different names throughout the Asian food lexicon. The list of possible ingredients is truly endless!

#Conji rice soup full#

And while that may not sound very appetizing, it’s basically the chicken soup of Asia, eaten when you’re feeling under the weather – or when you just need a dose of home-cooked comfort food.Ĭongee can be served plain to someone with a tender stomach – or can be full of flavor forward ingredients like meat, eggs, fried shallots and spices. At its most basic, congee is a thick rice porridge comprised of rice grains that have been cooked in water or broth for long enough that they begin to disintegrate.