Congee Types & Garnishings, What Do You Like?

Well, I honestly don't know what style I like; didn't even know there's style. Looks the same to me every where I eat congee.
I guess not everyone is a chef

 

Mmm, I would say pork liver congee w/ shredded slivers of green onion, cilantro and ginger. Super comforting when I am sick.

 

My bad, I guess I should have phrased it better, like: Do you like Shanghai, Malaysian, or Korean Congee, or do you prefer the usual Cantonese Congee? The addition of the topping selections was what threw people off in a whole other direction about what to put into their Cantonese Congee. The point I was trying to illustrate is, that congee itself is very different depending on where in the far east one comes from.

For example:

Also...

http://travel.cnn.com/shanghai/eat/beginners-guide-congee-024446

 

wow didnt know there are so many different congee I like the old school cantonese one!

 

Yes, I'm an old Cantonese from the mid 50's NYC Chinatown; back then, everything was Canto and pro British Hong Kong, and pro-Nationalist China. So our congee was the standard "Hong Kong" congee (no one ever referred to Guang Dong back then because they were communist, LOL... Ah... the politics back then. Like they say, the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree and we're every bit a product of our upbringing. Even as I know of all the other types of congee, Canto (or HK), remains the standard to compare all the others, though I'm especially intrigue with the Filipino version since I love tripe.

 

Teochew nang ga gi nang (Teochew talk)

I have Canto & Teochew blood, so pretty much grew up eating Teochew & Canto style congee too. Canto congee is watery (more water less rice) Teochew congee is thick (more rice less water)

I Like my congee with fried sliced chinese sausage (lup cheong), meat floss, peanuts, pickle vegetables & fried onions. Garnish with freshly chopped coriander & spring onions.

 

As long as they're flavorful, I don't mind which type of congee. I like it with some white pepper though. That to me is a must!

 

Er... I beg your pardon, but I think you've got that backwards; it's the other way around. Cantonese is thick, almost paste like in consistency, while TeoChew is watery, like "soupy" rice.

 

If you watch the last youtube clip you posted above (post#23) you will find what I said is correct.
In the clip, the chef/cook explains the two different style of congee (Canto & Teochew).

 

Here is that video. I think you may need to watch it again. Start watching from the 5.00 minute mark. The Cantonese Congee is boiled to paste like consistency.Then at the 8.00 minute mark, the chef talks about the TeoChew congee's rice, that the heart of the rice kernel remains hard because it isn't really fully cooked.

 

Screen cap of the clip at the 6:50 min mark & 6:53 min mark. Read the Chinese sub on the clip.



Cap 1. Cantonese congee is more water less rice.
Cap 2. Teochew congee is more rice less water.

 

We've been arguing semantics and unfortunately, the video's explanatory text also isn't being very accurate; but I know exactly what they meant.

That is, Cantonese style congee is cooked to the point of the rice becoming almost totally saturated and the body of each kernel is widely dissociated, suspended in solution and maintaining it's consistency only by nature of its starchy content. I would qualify this as "paste" like. In fact, this is remarkably similar to how Japanese sword makers traditionally made Rice Based Adhesives to glue wood in their manufacture of sheaths for Katanas. Thus, in the case of Cantonese congee, it is almost pure liquid, or as the text poorly wrote, "more water, less rice." It should have been "more watery consistency and less rice - like. But the congee itself, when served, is thick as the expanded starchy kernels holds the suspension together. Once it is partially eaten however, as more and more salivary amylase is introduced into the bowl (by the act of eating the congee), the starches are quickly broken down. The solution is rendered more watery when the starch is no longer capable of holding the suspension together; this is the reason Canto congee will always look watery near the end of the bowl.

TeoChew congee on the other hand, is rice briefly exposed to cooking heat and water, such that the body of each rice kernel remains relatively intact. It is more rice - like. In fact, people who eat Teochew congee will do so with chop sticks, shoveling it into their mouths like one would do with a regular bowl of rice (impossible to do with Canto congee). However, the rice kernel of such congee is usually sitting settled in a bowl of water. Much like how one would expect from something like Chicken and Rice soup, where one can easily separate the kernels from the liquid. Thus, in the case of Teochew congee, it is barely cooked rice sitting in a thin flavored broth. That is, the congee liquid itself is thin, with hard particulate rice matter settled at the bottom.

Or, in the final analysis, go to a Teochew restaurant and order congee to see what you get

 

I grow up eating chiuchow congee, plain with salty sides like blee said. I am having this quite often when I have lunch with my father, he has a strict diet of nminimal protein,

One of my favourite congee is pan fried fish congee.
we get alot of red snapper on the island, big and small
salt them overnight to bring out that nice seafood taste
pan fried them, debone them, use the bone for broth with ginger
cook the congee with broth till its silkee, the rice are now 'puffed up' like popcorn
cook green unions in oil till its brown and add shredded fish meat all to the congee
fresh ground white pepper and fish sauce for taste

and also about your debate with teochew/canto congee thisckness
from my knowledge, traditional chiuchow chuk is quite thick and are not barely cooked rice
the rice are cooked till its puffed up, covered with lid, flame off, to 'bake' them slowly
my family used to sell rice in HK and w hail from chiuchow
we brought many fellow ga gi nang to HK and to thailand and vietnam to our ricefields
because back than there are lotsa manual hard labour, the congee is thick so you can be full from it.
the congee are sometimes eaten cold which may add to the fact that its a thick congee
salted turnips (with eggs), salted dried olives, salted mustard greens are all must have in a chiuchow home
congee is eaten in every meal, just like rice you have everyday, coz we like to eat our salty sides

 

Well, maybe "barely cooked" was being excessively extreme on my part. But, do you eat your congee with chopsticks or a Chinese spoon? And, you can still tell that your rice kernel is a rice kernel, correct? In Cantonese congee, the rice kernel is almost completely dissolved.

 

In hoyeah! defends and without going into semantics, base simply on consistency I would say the Teochew congee is of a "thicker" variety.

I like them both, so doesn't matter to me!

 

Alright then, we agree to disagree and I'll leave it at that. Happy eating, all

 

I love congee in any style...but if I had to choose, I'd still prefer the cantonese congee. I usually cook it with dried oysters and peanuts, or scallops and ginger. (Just because I'm too lazy to mince up some meat for it) I also like century egg and pork congee. I've tasted a seafood congee made with squid, prawns, crabs and fish. It was heavenly! The sweetness of the seafood really brought depth to the congee

Teo chew congee is usually just watered down rice. I'd still eat it, but if I do, I eat it plain. Haha. I don't like mixing up all the condiments with the congee, unless the condiments are cooked with the congee.

 

Pei dan sau yok is the bomb!