Minced Pork Congee

Congee is a rice porridge commonly served for breakfast in China. It is an ultra-simple dish. A small amount of rice is simmered in a large amount of water for several hours.  Then it becomes silky and creamy.  Some people like simmering the rice in chicken stock to make it tastier.  It is nice to have congee with rice dumplings during Dragon Boat Festival.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes for frozen rice (if not, 1.5 hours)

Chilling time: 2 hours (optional)

Serve: 2

Ingredients:

l   ½ cup rice

l   4.5 cups water

l   100g pork (minced)

l   1 slice of lettuce (shredded)

l   4 tbsp sweetcorn

l   2g ginger (shredded)

l   1 spring onion (shredded)

l   1 tsp soy sauce

l   ½ tsp sugar

l   ¼ tsp ground black pepper (optional)

l   ¼ tsp fish sauce

l   ¼ tsp table salt

Method:

1.	Before start cooking, rinse the rice and keep it in ziplock bag.  Then chill it in the freezer at least 5 hours.  *If there is not enough time, just rinse the rice and boil it directly in a pot.  But it needs to be simmered a long time like 1.5 hours instead of half an hour (step 4).
2.	Season the minced pork with soy sauce, sugar and ground black pepper.
3.	Boil water in a pot over medium heat.  Take a pack of ½ cup frozen rice out of the freezer and put it into the boiling water.
4.	Add ginger in the pot.  Partially cover the pot and reduce to low heat.  Simmer for 25-30 minutes.  Stir once for every 10 minutes.  The more frequently you stir, the more the rice will break down and become silky.
5.	Add the minced meat, lettuce and sweetcorn into the congee and stir well.  Continue simmering for 10 minutes.
6.	Season congee with salt and fish sauce. Add sesame oil and garnish with spring onions before serving.

Tips:

1.	The quickest way to cook congee is to use the frozen rice.  Rinse the rice and keep it in a ziplock bag.  Store it in the freezer at least 2-3 hours. I always store one cup or two cups of rice in the freezer.  Then it can be used immediately when needed.
2.	It is important to simmer over a low heat and partially cover the pot to prevent drying and boiling over.