Congee with Pork, Crispy Shallots & 7 Minute Egg
Congee is a velvety rice porridge, cherished across Asia for its soothing qualities and comforting simplicity. Topped with crispy shallots and a jammy egg, this dish offers a gentle embrace for the senses, evoking warmth and nourishment with each spoonful.
Yield: All recipes serve 2 people
Chef Notes: I like to use Jasmine rice for my congee, but any rice you have on hand will do. You may notice variations in flavor, texture and cook time so make this a mindful activity and see what you notice.
Feel free to tinker with aromatics. Add lemongrass, dried shrimp, scallion whites, mushrooms, fish sauce, galangal... You can keep it simple or zhuzh it up!
Components
Congee Base
Baby Bok Choy
Crispy Shallots
7 Minute Eggs
Scallions
optional: sautéed ground pork
Mise
Congee Base: Mince the ginger & garlic. In large saucepan, add 1 C rice, 6 C chicken/veg stock, 3 t minced ginger, 3 cloves minced garlic, and 1½ teaspoon salt (and optional aromatics, see chef notes).
Simmer on low, stirring occasionally until the rice is tender and the mixture is creamy, 60 to 75 minutes. Add water to adjust consistency as needed - should remain quite soupy and porridge like.
Fry the Shallots▸: Slice the shallots paper thin. In a saucepan, cover the shallots with oil and bring to a simmer.Gentle fry the shallots until they are golden brown. Strain out the fried shallots by pouring the hot oil into another pot with a strainer set over it. Transfer the shallots to a paper towel lined plate and season with salt.
Scallions: Slice the scallions paper thin. Work on your knife skills here!
Brown the Pork▸ optional
Finish
To Finish: Slice the baby bok choy into thin slices. Add to the congee base as it's finishing and cook until the bok choy softens.
Portion into large soup bowls.
Top the finished congee with browned ground pork (if using), crispy shallots, and a 7-minute egg sliced in half.
Garnish with sliced scallions and enjoy!