Presevered Duck Egg & Pork Congee

A commonly made soup/dish/appetizer (not exactly what to call it) in Chinese restaurants (饭店 fàn diàn) and at home (家 jiā) is congee (zhōu 粥). It does take a bit of time to make, but it is yummy to eat. Here is my recipe (sort of) for congee with pork and preserved duck egg. Enjoy!

For a pot of congee, you will need the following:

Approximately 1 cup of cooked rice or 1/2 cup of uncooked rice (米 mǐ)
Water - I tend to fill half the pot with water and then add as needed
1 or 2 preserved duck eggs (松花蛋 sōng huā dàn)- chopped into big chunks
Boneless pork chops or a roast - (sliced into slithers or you can use ground pork instead)
* The amount of meat depends on you. Of course you wouldn't to have more meat than the water+rice!
Salt to taste
Chopped green onions for garnish

Preserved duck eggs - can be found at any Asian market
(NOT Cooked Salted duck eggs, that's another story)

1. Bring the rice and water to a boil and then reduce to a medium heat.

2. Add the chopped preserved duck eggs and let the mixture simmer for approximately 2 hours. The thing about cooking congee is, it tends to stick to the bottom or the pot, thus, you MUST stir it occasionally. When stirring, make sure that your utensil touches the bottom of the pot to ensure that there is nothing sticking to the bottom.

3. When the mixture becomes thicker, you can add the pork and salt. Let it simmer for another hour or so. I tend to add about a 1 teaspoon of salt. However, I add a pinch of salt first, then taste my 粥, and then add a pinch more and then taste again. I do this until I get the taste I want. You can add the green onions when it is almost finished or add it at the end. Sometimes I like to have them simmer with the mixture for 10 minutes.

4. The congee should be thick (稠 chóu), not watery with pieces of broken rice or clumpy. It should be an off-white color and have a thick texure to it.

Congee with ground pork and preserved duck egg. I forgot to add my green onions!

Added a bit of pork sung (yes that is the name on the package) with seaweed to the 粥.

Fortune Cookie: Learn Chinese

Restaurant = 饭店 = fàn diàn
Home = 家 = jiā
Congee = 粥 = zhōu
Rice ≈ 米 = mǐ (米 could refer to any kind of grain, sometimes even peanut: 花生米 huā shēng mǐ)
Thick = 稠 = chóu

In ancient China, rich people or land lords would make big pots of Zhou to serve the starved public, in catastrophic circumstances (like flood, dry). Here is a movie: Empire of Silver (Baiyin Diguo), about ShanXi bankers in late Qing dynasty. You will see that in the movie. Enjoy!