Cantonese-Style Preserved Egg & Pork Congee

(Pei Dan Sou Yuk Jook)

First! Let's clarify. I tell people about this wonderful dish all the time and I'll constantly receive comments like: "but I thought it was just a plain rice soup with no flavor!" Yes it is, but no it isn't--will be my answer. I'm well aware that in most of China (possibly even Taiwan), they call it "shi fan" or something like that in Mandrin--and that, is in fact, plain. Plain rice boiled with water, and you can add savory food to it as you like. I myself have never tried that but it doesn't sound very appetizing (sorry Chinese folk). But here's the version I grew up to know and love so well--the version you'll probably find most popularized in Hong Kong--it's what the Cantonese call "jook".

This recipe is a prized possession of mine, as I think it makes one of the best jooks I've ever had--better than several restaurants I've been to. It's adapted from a combination of sources: my grandma, my mom, my friend from Taiwan, online recipes, and as always I've thrown in a little twist of my own.

Ingredients (per cup of rice)

Congee Portion:

• 9-10 cups water
• Ginger, peeled and cut into slivers
• 1/2 tbsp salt or to taste
• 1 tsp sesame oil (optional)
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3 preserved ("thousand year old") eggs, chopped into 8 pieces each
• 1/2 tsp soy sauce (optional)
• 15-20 small dried scallops (optional)
• 1/4 cup dried skin peanuts (optional)

Dried Scallops

Pork:

• vegetable oil
  
• 1/4 lb ground pork
• 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1-2 tbsp hoisin sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

Garnish:

• 1 stalk green onions, chopped
• you tiao (savory fried Chinese donut)

Directions

Congee

• Wash and drain rice. Add ginger and boil with 9-10 cups of water per cup ice. After about 10 mins, let simmer on low-med to medium heat. If you don't have non-stick be sure to stir occasionally so rice doesn't stick and burn at bottom. You might have to add a little more water if the congee becomes too thick during simmering. During this time you can prepare all your other ingredients.
• About half an hour into simmering add all other ingredients to taste except for preserved eggs and beaten egg.
• Simmer until pot has been cooking for about 3 hours total. It could be ready sooner, after maybe 1.5-2 hours, but I usually let the jook simmer for at least 3 hours. This really pulls out the flavors and infuses it into the soup.
• Turn off heat when done, and stir in beaten egg.
  

Pork

• Now this pork isn't your traditional sau yuk pork, but I enjoy the separation of flavors, not to mention the ease, of ground pork.
• Coat frying pan with oil, enough to have a thin coat to cook pork with.
• Heat at medium to med-high heat, and check to be sure oil is hot (To check: if you put a drop of water into the pan, it should sizzle)
• Add salt and pepper. Once pork is thoroughly cooked, turn off heat and add oyster and hoisin sauces to your liking. Set aside, as this will top the congee.

After the congee has cooked, fill a bowl with hot congee, add some chopped pieces of preserved egg, and top with pork, green onions, and you tiao to your liking.

Preserved Egg

This savory dish is great for several purposes: breakfast, lunch, dinner, appetizer, sick days, and cold winter days... enjoy! :)

(P.S. I took all the pictures except for the last one with a borrowed Nikon D90. I'm hoping to get one of my own soon, too. Hooray for nice dSLRs!)