Congee or Zhuk

What is better than a bowl of congee after a bellyful of ribs, steaks and turkey in Christmas and New Year? 

Plain Congee (白粥)

Congee is a rice porridge. Chinese eat it for breakfast, for lunch, for dinner, or for supper or when we are sick, lack of appetite or simply poor.

Many restaurants in Hong Kong serve congee while not so many of them serve a bowl of good one. Usually, the congee is not cooked enough to give the silky texture and the resulting mixture is a bowl of whitish liquid with over-soaked rice lumps. The worst of all is adding MSG to the congee, which makes the customers thirsty after eating it.

A bowl of ideal Cantonese congee is not simply rice and water; it shall be silky with no rice grains visible and there shall be a sweet flavor which is not available in a bowl of ordinary steamed rice. 

Congee with century egg and lean pork (Pei Dan Sou Yuk Zhuk) is my favorite congee.  Savory lean pork and half of a century egg with a fluffy egg yolk form an ideal one.

Another favorite congee of mine is congee with minced beef (Sui Ngau Zhuk). The minced beef shall come with deep-fried rice noodles.

Sui Ngau Zhuk (碎牛粥)

Hong Kong is getting cold and a bowl of congee will keep you warm. Enjoy!