There is one type of rice dish in Asia that my boyfriend can not understand. For me, it's the equivalent of the most basic comfort food imaginable - "congee" as it is widely known but, in my parent's household, we called it moy (rhymes with toy). It's the food I turn to when I'm sick or when I just don't know what to eat. Think chicken noodle soup.
Congee is simple - boil the rice with lots and lots of water until it's runny. You can make it watery or clumpy, depending on your mood. In fact, some rice cookers in Asia have a "congee" setting! I think that would be my 2006 Christmas wish (Mike, you reading this?). It's great for leftover rice, you don't waste a single grain.
In our household moy was eaten with a dollop of Bovril (beef bouillon) for flavour and topped with salty deep fried fish called ikan bilis or whatever leftover meat was in the fridge. The great thing about congee is that it's universal across Asia and can be easily adapted.
On the subject of another Asian staple, Devy Stone chats about rice vermicelli in her blog and check out her turkey column, too.
I used to look forward to Thanksgiving or Christmas because of the leftover turkey bones. It was great to boil them up with rice the next day for turkey moy. I salivate at the thought.
CONGEE AROUND THE WORLD
As I've said, congee is eaten all over Asia and is known by different names: "juk" or "jook" in Cantonese, "lugaw" in Filipino, "khao tom gung" in Thai and "okayu" in Japanese. In fact, the Japanese eat something called "seven herb porridge" every January to ward off evil and bring in good luck in the new year.
By the way, the word congee is thought to be derived from the Indian word for the water in which rice has been boiled, "kanji."
There are way too many congee recipes to conjure up so I'll just mention a few versions.
In Korea, "jott jook" includes ground barley or lentils during the cooking process and the porridge is then garnished with pine nuts.
Over in Myanmar (which used to be called Burma), congee is created with toasted rice and fish. Turmeric, garlic, lemongrass and ginger are added for flavour.
Buddhist temples prepare a type of congee called "Laba Zhou" to commemorate the eighth day of the 12th moon, the day Buddha received enlightenment. The porridge is cooked with cereals, peas, chestnuts, dates, lotus seeds and dried fruits.
Historians believe congee was created around a time of famine as a way of stretching a food staple and may have been prevalent in China as early as 210 B.C. Makes sense to me.
Congee can be eaten any time. Sometimes, it's a filling breakfast and other times, it nice nighttime snack. You'll see Chinese people eating their congee with chopped up deep fried dough that's sold in long sticks, sometimes called "yu za kuei" (you jah kwoy). This is usually included as part of breakfast congee. Other times, salty eggs (referred to as 1,000-year-old eggs), salted mustard greens or bits of meat are added either to provide protein and/or flavour.
WHAT'S SO GOOD ABOUT IT?
The reason congee is so good, according to the Chinese, is that when you're sick, it's thought to harmonize digestion while providing much needed caloric energy. In other words, it aids the "qi" (pronounced "chi") or life force in you, and is seen as "cooling" down the body.
According to ancient Chinese philosophy, the cook's "qi" can pervade the dishes he/she prepares. Food tastes better if the cook's qi is good. So, think about having some congee once a month to fill up your qi.
On the medicinal front, congee with ginger is thought to settle the stomach and help with diarrhea and indigestion while congee with spinach is considered to be a sedative. Back in old times, adding black sesame seeds was used to aid lactation in nursing mothers.
I bet you didn't think such a lowly grain had so many uses!
