michael-in-phoenix
Well-known member
...I have some good advice from personal experience.
Our close friends adopted a little girl from china almost 4 years ago now, and I still remember a phone call from them that came around dinner time one evening. I had dropped off a big bowl of homemade congee, which is a very, very popular dish in all parts of the Orient, especially China. In case you're not familiar with congee, it is basically a rice porridge.
My friends called to thank me for dropping it off for them and their little girl, who was barely one year old at the time. They were astounded to see her eat it, as she was literally leaning into the bowl, shoveling the porridge into her mouth! She couldn't get enough of it!
We found out later that congee is made very simply at the orphanage by boiling rice in water, or, if they are lucky, chicken broth. Their little girl obviously remembered the taste, and was truly excited to have something familiar in her dinner bowl.
I make Congee easily from scratch, using a rotisserie chicken. You might want to try this a few times so your little daughter will have something familiar, nutritious and delicious when she arrives.
Here are the instructions:
Take advantage of the rotisserie chickens at Costco or your local supermarket. Hot, fresh, tender and juicy... all for about $4 to $6.
Use the leftovers to make congee.
In a large, heavy-bottomed pot (at least 6 - 8 quarts), place the leftover chicken, bones, skin, carcass, any jellied juices in the tray the chicken came in, etc., along with any roughly chopped celery, carrots and onions (rinsed, cut in half, brown skins left on) you happen to have laying around and cover with canned chicken broth (Campbell's/Swanson's low salt is best). You can use water, or water and some chicken bouillon. Make sure the bird is covered. You want at least 4 quarts of liquid.
(I sometimes use an entire rotisserie chicken just to make congee. I usually remove the breasts and set them aside, as I don't want the breast meat to get dry. I shred the breast meat by hand and add it to the finished soup. Here's a flavor booster hint: take the chicken skin from the breasts and mince it very finely. Add the skin to the finished soup as well. It adds a ton of flavor!)
Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce to a healthy simmer, and set the lid askew to partially cover. Check every hour or so to stir and add more boiling water to keep the liquid level approximately the same. Allow to simmer for anywhere from 2 hours to 4 hours or so (the longer the better).
Remove from heat and strain broth through a collander and into another pot. Return broth to the heat, and heat to a low simmer. Once the broth is simmering, add 3/4 cup (or so) of dry, uncooked long grain rice. (You can also add left over cooked long grain rice instead. It works equally well. Add 1 1/2 to 2 cups cooked rice.). Don't add too much rice or it will cook up into a thick, pasty gruel. Allow this to simmer, covered, over very low heat for 1 hour, stirring every 10 minutes or so, to keep rice from sticking to the bottom.
When the chicken and veggies are cool enough to handle, separate out the meat and shred by hand into bite-size pieces. Add to pot with broth and rice, and discard remainder.
After an hour or so, the soup will be very silky and smooth. The rice will cook down into a porridge-like consistency. You want something like a creamy, watery oatmeal consistency. Not as liquid as a soup, but not as thick as a stew. Correct seasoning by adding salt and freshly ground pepper, or a little more bouillon.
Off heat, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of finely grated fresh ginger root, to taste, and stir.
This stuff is SO GOOD. You can top with any manner of stir-ins: cooked chicken, chopped green onions, chopped radishes, steamed chopped asparagus, sauteed greens of practically ANY sort, etc., etc.
This freezes well.
Great comfort food, and I guarantee your daughter will love it!
Michael
Our close friends adopted a little girl from china almost 4 years ago now, and I still remember a phone call from them that came around dinner time one evening. I had dropped off a big bowl of homemade congee, which is a very, very popular dish in all parts of the Orient, especially China. In case you're not familiar with congee, it is basically a rice porridge.
My friends called to thank me for dropping it off for them and their little girl, who was barely one year old at the time. They were astounded to see her eat it, as she was literally leaning into the bowl, shoveling the porridge into her mouth! She couldn't get enough of it!
We found out later that congee is made very simply at the orphanage by boiling rice in water, or, if they are lucky, chicken broth. Their little girl obviously remembered the taste, and was truly excited to have something familiar in her dinner bowl.
I make Congee easily from scratch, using a rotisserie chicken. You might want to try this a few times so your little daughter will have something familiar, nutritious and delicious when she arrives.
Here are the instructions:
Take advantage of the rotisserie chickens at Costco or your local supermarket. Hot, fresh, tender and juicy... all for about $4 to $6.
Use the leftovers to make congee.
In a large, heavy-bottomed pot (at least 6 - 8 quarts), place the leftover chicken, bones, skin, carcass, any jellied juices in the tray the chicken came in, etc., along with any roughly chopped celery, carrots and onions (rinsed, cut in half, brown skins left on) you happen to have laying around and cover with canned chicken broth (Campbell's/Swanson's low salt is best). You can use water, or water and some chicken bouillon. Make sure the bird is covered. You want at least 4 quarts of liquid.
(I sometimes use an entire rotisserie chicken just to make congee. I usually remove the breasts and set them aside, as I don't want the breast meat to get dry. I shred the breast meat by hand and add it to the finished soup. Here's a flavor booster hint: take the chicken skin from the breasts and mince it very finely. Add the skin to the finished soup as well. It adds a ton of flavor!)
Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce to a healthy simmer, and set the lid askew to partially cover. Check every hour or so to stir and add more boiling water to keep the liquid level approximately the same. Allow to simmer for anywhere from 2 hours to 4 hours or so (the longer the better).
Remove from heat and strain broth through a collander and into another pot. Return broth to the heat, and heat to a low simmer. Once the broth is simmering, add 3/4 cup (or so) of dry, uncooked long grain rice. (You can also add left over cooked long grain rice instead. It works equally well. Add 1 1/2 to 2 cups cooked rice.). Don't add too much rice or it will cook up into a thick, pasty gruel. Allow this to simmer, covered, over very low heat for 1 hour, stirring every 10 minutes or so, to keep rice from sticking to the bottom.
When the chicken and veggies are cool enough to handle, separate out the meat and shred by hand into bite-size pieces. Add to pot with broth and rice, and discard remainder.
After an hour or so, the soup will be very silky and smooth. The rice will cook down into a porridge-like consistency. You want something like a creamy, watery oatmeal consistency. Not as liquid as a soup, but not as thick as a stew. Correct seasoning by adding salt and freshly ground pepper, or a little more bouillon.
Off heat, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of finely grated fresh ginger root, to taste, and stir.
This stuff is SO GOOD. You can top with any manner of stir-ins: cooked chicken, chopped green onions, chopped radishes, steamed chopped asparagus, sauteed greens of practically ANY sort, etc., etc.
This freezes well.
Great comfort food, and I guarantee your daughter will love it!
Michael