Congee(porridge) above may look simple. Well, looks may be deceiving here. Previously I had struggled getting the right consistency for a meat porridge. Only after trying out some recipes of different variations had I finally found the right one close to my hometown. In a Chinese hawker food eatery, you would often find stalls selling merely porridge which goes commonly with either, fish, pork, chicken, pork livers and century eggs.

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 125g short grain rice, wash and drain
• 5 cups of water
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp chicken powder
• 200ml water
• 3 sliced ginger ( julienne )
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• some chopped spring onions

Chicken breast mixture

• 100g chicken breast minced mix with 1 tsp corn flour, 1/2 tsp chicken powder,
• dash of pepper

Method

1. Heat up pot with 1 tsp sesame oil. Saute ginger till fragrant, add in rice and give a gentle stir to combine for 3 minutes.
2. Then pour in 5 cups of water, salt,  chicken powder and bring to a boil for 15 minutes. Stir in the chicken breast mixture, using a spoon to break up the mixture into little shreds and bring to a boil again. Then Lower the heat and bring to a simmer gently stirring the rice frequently until the rice is soft and turning mushy. After simmering for about 20-30 minutes, add in 200ml water and continue stirring to avoid the rice from sticking. At this stage most of the water has evaporated. Rice is soft and mushy, garnish with spring onions and serve. How simpler can that be. Voila!