On the First Day of...

2015...

Happy New Year!

We woke up on the first day of the year to a chilly morning and the lovely sound of... silence!  I swear there is nothing more comforting than silence after an explosive night!  A quick look at our street and I was pleasantly surprised to see it relatively clean, with most of the remnants of fireworks and firecrackers swept in small piles.  At 8 in the morning, there was no one outside at all (still sleeping off the effects of the festivities of the previous night, I suppose).

Ironically, though, considering I was the last one to go to bed the night before (everyone woke up right before midnight to witness the festivities), I was the first to be awake.  Force of habit?

Anyway, the first order of the day?  Breakfast, of course!

And what would be the perfect breakfast fare on a cold and chilly morning?  Congee!  It was hot and comforting, and convenient, because I could kill 2 birds with 1 stone by throwing in a whole lot of leftovers!  There was leftover lechon (roast pig) and shrimp from Media Noche, and I found the last piece of abalone mushroom.  There was a bit of chay po (preserved radish) also, initially intended for an omelette.

About a year ago I already made lechon lugaw, although the recipe for that one was not a recipe at all since I threw everything in the pot and did not measure at all.  This particular congee is similar to that one, that is to say, not made from scratch (using uncooked rice) because we also had a lot of cooked rice left over from Media Noche!   But this time, I measured the ingredients!

Here's how to make Lechon Lugaw (Roast Pig Congee):

5 thin slices of ginger
1 small onion, finely minced
about 2 cups chopped up lechon
about 6 to 8 pieces cooked shrimp
1 tablespoon chay po (optional)
1 large abalone mushroom, sliced
5 cups water (or more, depending on preference)
2-1/2 cups cooked rice
salt and pepper, to taste

Saute the ginger and onions until fragrant.  Add the chopped up lechon; stir fry several seconds.  Add the water and bring to a boil.  (At this point I usually add a bit of salt and pepper.)  When the mixture boils, add everything else, including the rice.  Stir every so often, to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot.  Season to taste.  Add more water if desired.

The congee is done when the rice is mushy (I simmered and stirred the pot for about 20 minutes).  Add a splash of sesame oil before serving.

A final note - this is a very forgiving recipe.  It can be made with whatever is in the fridge.  I've made it with leftover roast chicken (lechon manok), leftover beef, leftover fish fillet, all sorts of balls (meat, crab, shrimp and squid), and once with leftover chopsuey (mixed vegetables)!  Even the condiments can vary - salt, soy sauce, fish sauce, whatever floats your boat.  What is important is the proportion of (cooked) rice to the water (or stock).  As a general (albeit personal) rule, I use twice the amount of water to the rice, which results in a medium consistency.  If we feel like having a thinner gruel, I add more water (gradually!).  The 2:1 ratio is by no means absolute, since the consistency also depends on the kind of rice used, because some rice absorb more water.  Simply put, feel free to experiment!

Singaporean-style Congee

Hubby and I recently tried out a Singaporean-style restaurant.  He ordered the laksa while I had the congee.  I was used to the Chinese-style rice porridge but this Singaporean-style was different!  It was yummy, but the texture was definitely not the usual that I'm used to.

How do I describe the texture?  The first thing that struck me that the "thickness" of the congee.  The usual congee that I make (or eat in Chinese restaurants) is a thin, watery gruel.  This congee was thick like oatmeal.  More significant, however, was the grains of rice, which were broken (or smashed?) into tiny bits.  In contrast to the Chinese-style congee where the rice grains are so soft they're quite mushy, this Singaporean-style congee had al-dente bits.  There were no whole grains, of that I was certain, but what bits I could sense in my mouth were definitely firm.  I found the texture to be quite interesting.  And of course, I wanted to try and see if I could recreate the texture.

I asked a friend (who had worked in Singapore for several years) if she had any suggestions.  She did!  The first secret, according to her, is the crispy fried shallots (and the resulting shallot oil).  After that was the so-called congee rice grains, which were broken rice grains instead of the usual whole grains used for steamed rice.  Then there was the liquid to rice grain ratio.  The Chinese version has more liquid per cup of rice, the Singaporean version has lesser liquid, and uses chicken and/or pork stock.

Here's how I made mine (generally following my friend's instructions)...

Prepare the chicken stock beforehand.  Our local supermarket sells (usually) the rib cage, the back part and/or neck parts as soup bones and they're a lot cheaper then other chicken parts.  To make about 6 cups of stock, use 7 to 8 cups of water with 2 pieces of the back part, 3 to 4 ribs or 8 to 10 pieces of neck.  My mom tells me to put everything (an onion, quartered, 1 or 2 whole tomatoes, 1 stalk celery, chopped roughly, and slices of ginger, as well as salt and pepper, to taste, and the chicken, of course) in the stock pot and bring to a boil, skim then simmer at least an hour, preferably 4.  Strain everything and let the stock cool.  There's usually a bit of chicken meat on the bones and I add these to Dexter's food as additional treats).  If there is no time to make homemade stock, feel free to use canned stock or instant stock using bouillon cubes.

Make the crispy fried shallots ahead too.  Place 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sliced shallots in a frying pan.  Pour in enough canola oil to cover the shallots.  Do not crowd the shallots in the pan.  Turn on the heat to medium (at most) and gently fry the shallots (about 4 to 5 minutes, more or less).  If the shallots brown too quickly, turn down the heat a notch or two.  When the shallots are golden brown, strain the shallots and air dry (again, do not crowd the shallots; better to spread the shallots in a single layer).  Reserve the oil where the shallots were fried ("shallot oil") and let it cool.

This next component is optional but since I like conpoy (dried scallops) and dried shitake, I almost always add this to my congees.  Rehydrate (separately) about a tablespoon of conpoy (whole pieces not necessary, bit and pieces are fine) in hot water (the resulting "broth" is quite flavorful so don't throw it away).  Rehydrate dried shitake mushrooms (I used 6 to 7 small pieces) until soft.  Or use 2 to 3 medium pieces and slice into thin strips.  Set aside. 

To make the congee, rinse 1 cup of congee rice grains until the rice washing water runs clear.  Set aside.

Saute 2 to 4 thin slices of ginger in the shallot oil.  Put in about 150 to 200 grams of thinly sliced pork (or use ground pork) and cook until done.  Remove the pork and throw in the rice grains; stir fry several seconds.  Add 6 cups of broth, the rehydrated conpoy and rehydrated sliced shitake.  Cook on low to low-medium about 20 to 30 minutes, or just until the broken grains are al dente.  Garnish the congee with the crispy fried shallots, sliced century eggs and a dash sesame oil.

Yumm!

Lechon Congee

Yup.  Still on Christmas food... specifically, leftovers...

But still delicious!  Really.

Here's one in defiance of lechon paksiw!  Lechon lugaw!  from leftover lechon and leftover rice...

Ok, the problem here is that this is a dish without a recipe...  I did not measure anything and just winged it... like this -

a big bowl of mixed lechon pata and laman (pata is the leg part and laman is meaty parts)
about a third of the rice cooker "bowl" of leftover rice
about twice as much water or chicken stock as the rice (or more if you like a soupier lugaw)
thin slices of ginger
sliced onions
minced garlic

Saute the ginger, onion and garlic.  Throw in the lechon.  Add the water or chicken stock.  Lastly add the rice.  Then stir, stir, stir.  Cook on low-medium heat until thick and creamy.  For this particular dish, we wanted a soupy congee so I added more water.  Season with salt and pepper (or patis/fish sauce).

It was perfect for breakfast this chilly morning!