Rice congee

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(Redirected from Congee)

Rice congee
Image:Chinese rice congee.jpg Chinese rice congee
Cambodian name
	babar
Chinese name
Mandarin	粥 zhōu (IPA: Template:IPA)
Cantonese	粥 juk (IPA: Template:IPA)
Shanghainese	粥 tzoq (IPA: Template:IPA)
Min Nan	糜 beí
Hakka	粥 zuk⁵ (IPA: Template:IPA)
Filipino name
	lugaw
Spanish	arroz caldo
Japanese name
Kanji	粥 or 白粥
Hiragana	かゆ or おかゆ
Romaji	kayu or okayu
South Asian names
Tamil	kanji
Malayalam	kanji
Bangla	jau (IPA: Template:IPA)
Korean name
Hangul	죽
Hanja	粥
Revised Romanization	juk
McCune-Reischauer	chuk
Malaysian name
	bubur
Thai name
	โจ๊ก (joke)
Vietnamese name
Quốc Ngữ	cháo
Chữ nôm	粥
Taiwanese name
	(POJ: muê)

Rice congee is a type of rice porridge that is eaten in many Asian countries. The word Congee derives from the Malayalam word kanji.

The rice is boiled in many times its weight of water, for a long time until the rice breaks down, and becomes a fairly viscous white porridge. It is usually eaten as a savoury, with zha cai, lettuce and dace paste, bamboo shoots, wheat gluten, meat, or with other condiments, or plain. It is sometimes eaten with meat or century egg added near the start of making the congee. Sometimes when the congee is ready, savoury items like minced beef and fish are scalded with the boiling congee which cooks the meat. Other seasonings, such as white pepper and soy sauce, may be added. Alternatively, fish can be grilled and mixed in to provide a texture different from the watery congee. Occasionally, a sweet version is prepared by mixing rice congee with red beans and sugar for certain traditional festivals. Congee is often served with Peanuts and usually topped with scallions.

Congee can be made in a pot, or in a rice cooker. Some rice cookers even have a "congee" setting, allowing the user to cook their breakfast congee overnight.

While Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean congee is often made with broth, the Japanese version, called okayu, is usually made with water and seasoned with salt, and is a tradtional "sick-food" in Japan. A type of okayu called nanakusagayu (七草粥, "Seven Herb Porridge") is traditionally eaten on 7 January, as a way of using special herbs that protect against evils, and to invite good luck and longevity in the new year.

Congee is considered a part of traditional Chinese medicine food therapy. Ingredients can be determined by their therapeutic value as well as flavor. In China it is a very quick way to make a quick but filling meal. Congee is often accompanied by fried bread sticks known as youtiao. Congee with youtiao is commonly eaten as breakfast in many areas in China. Congee can be left watery or can be drained so that the congee has a texture that is like Western porridge. Although less common, congee can also be made from brown rice; such congee is recommended for certain conditions in Traditional Chinese medicine.

The origin of congee is unknown, but from many historical accounts, it is usually served during times of famine, or during times of when numerous patrons visits the temples. Thus, it can be intepreted as a way to stretch the rice supply to feed more people.

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Okayu

Okayu is the name for the type of congee eaten in Japan. Whilst it is defined as congee and is thinner and softer than most rice dishes, it is still considerably thicker than most types of congee, a typical Cantonese style congee uses a water to rice ratio of 12:1, but okayu uses a water to rice ratio of 6:1. Also, its cooking time is short compared to other types of congee, about 30-minutes, but more than one-hour for cantonese style congees.

Okayu may simply consist of rice and water, although in many recipes, salt, sake and negi (welsh onion) are also added for seasoning. Beaten eggs could be beaten into it to thicken tit into gruel. Secondary foods may be added to enhance flavour; salmon, roe, ginger, and umeboshi are among the most common. Similarly, miso or chicken stock may be used to flavor the broth.

In Japan okayu is popularly known as a food served to the ill, occupying a similar cultural status to that of chicken noodle soup in America. Its easily digestible nature is also responsible for its status as the first solid food served to Japanese infants; it is used to transition them from liquids to the thicker rice dishes which constitute much of the Japanese diet.

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