Wow, wow, wow. What a month of FUD. I think what we need is a good healthy injection of fundamentals. And there's nothing as fundamental as basic congee (rice porridge).

It's the quintessential Chinese breakfast food and de facto nourishment for sick Chinese kids. I remember being forced to eat absolutely plain congee when I was sick -- no salt, no nothing -- and I hated it! But today we're going to splash some paint on our congee canvas with some amazing toppings.

Chinese usually use jasmine rice while Japanese use short grain rice. I've never made it with basmati rice before and I reckon it wouldn't work too well because it is too fragrant and the grains tend to stay whole, but you could try and tell me how it works out. If you want to be health conscious, you could mix in 10%-15% brown or red rice, but I wouldn't recommend doing it all with brown or red rice because they don't break up easily.

Ingredients

• 1 cup rice
• 7-10 cups water -- 1:7 ratio of rice to water gives a very thick congee. 1:10 is on the watery side. I find 1:8 a good medium, but do as you prefer.
• 1 piece of dried mandarin peel or 2 pieces of kombu -- Dried mandarin peel is used in many Chinese dishes and has a wonderful aroma. Kombu is probably even more widely used in Japanese cooking. Choose your own adventure!

Method

• Add rice, water and mandarin peel or kombu into a pot.
• Give it a stir, as the starch from the rice tends to stick immediately.
• Turn heat to high.
• When the water starts to get hot, give it another stir as the outside of the rice starts to soften and stick again.
• When it starts to boil, turn the heat down to low-medium. Give another stir. Then cover, but leave the lid a bit open. This boils over easily, so watch out for that.
• Let simmer until the rice breaks apart and the congee thickens. It should take 20-30 minutes. Stir every so often if you want to make sure it won't stick, especially near the end. Note that the congee will continue to thicken even after you turn off the heat.

That's basic congee. And now the fun part!

Toppings

Basics

• Green Onions - A must.
• Soy Sauce
• White Pepper - White and black pepper are completely not interchangeable. White pepper is fermented and goes so well with congee. Some might find it a bit pungent, but once you get used to it, there is no alternative.

Chinese Doughnut

Is there any culture that doesn't like fried dough? In Mandarin these are called "you tiao", literally oil sticks. But I like the Cantonese name "yao ja gwai", which means "fried ghosts". 

I've made these myself before, but recently I found some frozen ones.

Some people like to hold it in one hand and munch on it while eating congee. Others like to cut it up and put it in the congee. Kind of like bread with soup!

Spicy Preserved Cabbage

The crunchy texture is absolutely marvelous. Sometimes they come pre-sliced, or sometimes whole so you have to cut them yourself.

And I love the simple ingredients list.

Meat Floss

That is an...unfortunate translation. But it is delicious! Traditionally made with pork or beef, this version I have is made with tuna. Not as simple an ingredients list, but not bad either. I love how it kind of "melts" into the congee.

And there you have it. Hope this helps with recovery and re-nourishment.

* Tip for reheating leftovers - it gets really thick after you put it in the fridge overnight, so just add some more water and stir to reheat it.