Healthy and warm Chinese chicken congee 鸡肉粥. If you love Chinese plain congee or rice porridge, don’t miss this super easy chicken congee. With this recipe, you don’t need to use chicken stock as the base and transfer a plain congee into a savory, aromatic chicken congee.
Congee or porridge culture is one of the most outstanding features of Chinese cuisine, compared with Western culture. We eat congee throughout the entire year.
They may appear differently in different seasons or places. For example, on hot summer days, we make congee, usually with clear water and sometimes corn and mung beans. Congee is served cold along with cold noodles. The broth is widely used for cooking savory and warm congee on cold winter days. This basic homemade chicken congee is made directly from rice but might also be cooked with leftover rice.
Both plain and sticky rice can be used for porridge and congee. Lots of ingredients are great partners with congee. Check mixed congee if you love a sweet version with beans and dried fruits.
Tips for perfect congee
- Soaking the rice after washing. Soaking the grain is crucial to making congee with a smooth texture, making the rice break quickly.
- Use the proper rice and ratio: the amount of water needed to cook congee can vary depending on the desired consistency, the amount of rice, and the tool used. Generally, you should use a rice-to-water ratio of about 1:8 to 1:12.
- Serve with appropriate ingredients. If you order congee in a Chinese restaurant, a large group of small portions of vegetables or crunchy will usually be served together, including zai cai, vegetables, deep-fried peas, youtiao, deep-fried shallots, and pickles.
Step by Step
Wash the rice; you may choose either long grain or short grain. Soak it in water for about 20 minutes. Drain it and mix it with 1 teaspoon of oil.
Add chicken (thigh or breast) into a wok with cold water. Then place in ginger and scallion. Cook for 10 minutes. Transfer out and shred by hand.
In a large pot, bring about 10 cups of water to a boil, then add the soaked rice. Remember to stir from time to time at the beginning to avoid the rice sticking to the bottom.
Optionally but recommended, add several shreds of ginger and cook with the rice. After 20 minutes or so, the congee should be pretty smooth. Add the 1/2 of the shredded chicken and a tiny pinch of salt. This can give the congee a lovely salty base.
Continue simmering for another 5 minutes until flavors are well combined. Transfer out.
Add deep-fired shallots, the remaining chicken shreds, scallion coriander, sesame oil, and a dash of black pepper. Mix well and serve hot. You can also use shredded lettuce, deep-fried oil sticks, and pickles.
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice , either long grain or short grain
- 10 cup water
- 1 tsp. vegetable cooking oil , mixing with the rice grain
- 2 chicken thighs
- pinch of salt
- 3-4 green onion ,divided
- 1 thumb ginger
- small bunch of coriander , optional
- sesame oil
- dash of pepper
- deep-fried shallots or other ingredients you prefer
Instructions
- Wash the rice; you may choose either long grain or short grain. Soak it in water for about 20 minutes. Drain it and mix it with 1 teaspoon of oil.
- Add chicken (thigh or breast) into a wok with cold water. Then place in ginger and scallion. Cook for 10 minutes. Transfer out and shred by hand.
- In a large pot, bring about 10 cups of water to a boil, then add the soaked rice. Remember to stir from time to time at the beginning to avoid the rice sticking to the bottom.
- Optionally but recommended, add several shreds of ginger and cook with the rice. After 20 minutes or so, the congee should be pretty smooth. Add the 1/2 of the shredded chicken and a tiny pinch of salt. This can give the congee a lovely salty base.
- Continue simmering for another 15 minutes over slowest fire until flavors are well combined. Transfer out.
- Add scallion, fried shallots, coriander or any other side ingredient to serving bowls. Serve hot.
Video
Nutrition
This dish looks wonderful and I am going to try my hand at it in the very near future. I recently discovered your website and I think I am going to use it often as a reference material for my own kitchen adventures. Your pictures really compliment your food making you hungry by just looking at them.
I already made a list of some recipes found on your site I really want to try as well such as the sweet and sour ribs – Tang Cu Pai Gu and the Dan Dan Noodles. They look absolute yummy!
Thanks for all the kind words. Happy cooking.
Looks like a perfect comfort breakfast for a cold winter morning. Nice!
I totally agree. It really warms up in the chilled like morning.
I just found your page. I will mark to come back and try some recipes. I just came back from a month in China and the food was awesome there. I’m eager to make some of the authentic items I ate there.
Congee is a favorite of mine and I have been making it for over a year. Great comfort food!
I love Congee! I use the rice from last night’s dinner and simmer it in chicken stock until it’s very soft. The thing I like about it is that it is nourishing and you can add any condiments to it. Want meat, add meat, want veggies, add them, want spicy, go for it! Fried scallions/some soy sauce/ sesame oil/ black bean sauce/ etc… it’s the perfect blank canvas for really good, hearty food!
Left-over congee has a lovely name in Chinese–烫饭. You can add meat, vegetables and all kinds of homemade chili sauce etc. It is so yummy and quick.
My favorite combination is tomato, egg, Bok choy and mushrooms.
I remember having this in Beijjing when we went through the adoption of our granddaughter. Such happy memories and such wonderful food! I love your web site and it is my go to to find Chinese recipes. thank you so much for sharing your cooking.
I love “Jook”! My mother use to make that every week! My parents are from Canton and they used pork instead of chicken and smoked ham to give the rice more flavor! I made it once when I was living in NY but now I’m in NC and it’s hard to get the same ingredients than up in Queens or Manhattan!
I love your website! I am hosting a Chinese family this week, and I know the wife loves congee. I have one question: if I make it ahead and refrigerate it overnight will it become thick and mushy?
Yes, it will. Anna. Congee is not a ideal food for cooking ahead.
Loved it! Added a bit more ginger and served it with finely diced green and red chili de-seeded in soy sauce to garnish as desired with fresh chopped spring onion. My go-to congee recipe now!!!! Thank you for sharing.
Thank you!
Love it! I love how you can throw the chicken drumsticks, rice and ginger in the IP and then set it and forget it. I am curious to know how well it turns out with a shorter cooking time like say 20 minutes cooked on high pressure and then about 20-30 minutes natural release time. Anyone try a shorter cook and release time? If so, what times work?
I’m curious to know if this recipe could be used with oxtails. Anyone try this? How’d it turn out?
Oxtail can be good too. But oxtails should be pre-cooked with boiling water.
I think this recipe is supposed to say 2-3 cups of rice, not 2/3 of a cup. Made this with 2/3 cup of rice as stated and there was far too much water. Have added another 1.5 cups into the water now. Besides that great recipe. 🙂