BREAKING NEWS!!! You can make delicious congee with slow-cooked flavor––from scratch––in 20 minutes. I’m not talking about using an Instant Pot or pressure cooker either. The extremely exciting technique I’m revealing in this post will cut the usual congee cooking time by at least two thirds, if not more.
Anyone who has made congee before knows that this statement is verging on lies and deception, but hear me out.
What Is Congee?
But first, what is congee? Congee is a classic Chinese porridge made from rice, usually served for breakfast or at dim sum. It can have sweet or savory toppings––the classic has pork, scallions, ginger, and thousand year old egg. Congee is usually made by boiling rice in a lot of water for a very long time.
(Until now!)
The Secret to 20-Minute Congee
So listen to this, my cousin in Shanghai knows that we have a food blog. Once in a while, she’ll send me information or dishes that might interest me. Recently she sent me a 15-minute congee recipe, and it immediately caught my attention, because I––like you right now––thought there was NO way anyone could make a decent congee in 15 minutes––let alone a really good one!
So it was definitely worthy of the 15-minute investment to find out. My conclusion was that the congee did not cook to the right consistency in 15 minutes, but 20 minutes was the perfect amount of time to reach the texture you see in our pictures.
The secret? FREEZING the rice ahead of time: wash the rice, drain, and put the washed rice in a zip-loc bag (or freezer-safe container). Then leave it in the freezer for at least 8 hours.
The science behind it is that the moisture in the rice freezes, expands, and breaks the rice kernel into tiny pieces to dramatically reduce necessary cooking time. I also tried this method with grains like barley, brown rice, red rice, and black rice, and it works beautifully. The cooking time for grains other than white rice is just slightly longer.
Now I always keep a bag of washed rice in my freezer. I don’t have to plan ahead and invest an hour or more to make congee anymore. I can have it any time I want: breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
It’s a whole new world!
A Classic Recipe
While this newfound cooking technique is a game changer, the actual recipe––congee with pork and thousand year old egg––has a long history as a favorite Cantonese comfort food.
The elephant in the room is, of course, the thousand year-old egg. I don’t know how it earned this name, inspiring equal parts terror and horror. A scene from Fear Factor comes to mind: a poor girl asked to eat a thousand year-old egg, gagging with tears in her eyes. I would be like…hand me some soy sauce and bring it over, along with my $50,000 check!
For you daredevils, thrill seekers, and Andrew Zimmern types, give this recipe a try with the thousand year old egg. If less adventurous, you can always leave the egg out.
And for people who grew up eating this congee, nostalgic for authentic Cantonese flavors, this one is a big welcome home with minimal effort, from me to you!
Also check out our other congee recipes, including our Seafood Congee, Pork Bone Congee, and Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Congee!
20-Minute Congee with Pork & Thousand Year Old Egg: Recipe Instructions
Wash the rice, drain, and transfer to a zip-loc bag or freezer-safe container. Leave it in the freezer for at least 8 hours.
Marinate the pork with the cornstarch, oyster sauce, and vegetable oil for about 15 to 20 minutes.
In a medium pot, bring 7 cups of water to a boil. Add the frozen rice (no need to defrost) and bring it to a boil again, stirring the rice to prevent sticking.
Reduce the heat to a low simmer, and cover and cook for about 15 minutes. Periodically check and stir the congee. It’s important to stir from the bottom to prevent sticking, as the rice texture thickens quickly.
While that’s cooking, dice the thousand year-old egg and set it aside. Very thinly julienne the ginger. Don’t prepare this ahead of time, as we want the flavor of freshly cut ginger.
After 15 minutes, it’s time to add the julienned ginger, pork, and thousand year-old egg.
Stir and simmer for another 5 minutes or so. Finally, stir in the white pepper and salt to taste. Serve piping hot with chopped scallions and cilantro.
It’s that easy, folks!
20-Minute Congee with Pork and Thousand Year-Old Egg (皮蛋瘦肉粥)
Ingredients
- ¾ cup white rice
- 4 ounces pork shoulder (115g, julienned)
- ½ teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 7 cups water (or chicken broth; 1.65 liters)
- 2 thousand year-old eggs
- 3 slices ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
- Salt (to taste)
- Chopped scallion and cilantro (to garnish)
Instructions
- Wash the rice, drain, and transfer to a zip-loc bag or freezer-safe container. Leave it in the freezer for at least 8 hours.
- Marinate the pork with the cornstarch, oyster sauce, and vegetable oil for about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a medium pot, bring 7 cups of water to a boil. Add the frozen rice (no need to defrost) and bring it to a boil again, stirring the rice to prevent sticking. Reduce the heat to a low simmer, and cover and cook for about 15 minutes. Periodically check and stir the congee. It’s important to stir from the bottom to prevent sticking, as the rice texture thickens quickly.
- While that’s cooking, dice the thousand year-old egg and set it aside. Very thinly julienne the ginger. Don’t prepare this ahead of time, as we want the flavor of freshly cut ginger.
- After 15 minutes, it’s time to add the julienned ginger, pork, and thousand year-old egg. Stir and simmer for another 5 minutes or so. Finally, stir in the white pepper and salt to taste. Serve piping hot with chopped scallions and cilantro.
- It's that easy, folks!
nutrition facts
Note: This recipe was originally published on October 17, 2016. We have since updated it with more information, clearer instructions, and nutrition information. Enjoy!
Thank you for this wonderful recipe. I made quantity modifications coz I like lotsa ingredients per bite; 5 or 6 century eggs (coz there must be some in each mouthful), double the amount of pork, also about same amount of minced pork for a different texture… But the biggest modification was to use chicken stock cubes when cooking the frozen rice. This way, the congee was flavourful and no additional seasonings like soy sauce was needed when serving.
My mom would make this with little beef meatballs topped off with ginger, scallions, cilantro, pepper and a little nuoc cham. Being Cantonese from Cholon in Saigon we got lots of both cuisines plus a bit of French.
We made this and it was like a hug in a bowl! Perfect ratio of rice/water. The only thing I skipped was the oyster sauce because I’m not a fan, but otherwise made as written. This might be personal preference but I thought it needed more meat. Next time I will use 6oz and keep other ingredients the same. Thanks for another great recipe!
That’s great, Emily, and do feel free to make adjustments :-)
I use leftover rice and a stick blender. 1 part leftover rice to 2-3 part water. I let the rice simmer in the water for about 5-10 mins till softened and heated through. Then I blitz it with a stick blender til I get the consistency I want, usually, maybe 3 pulses of 2-3 seconds. Add seasonings like chicken powder, pepper, fish sauce, sliced ginger, any frozen leafy vegetables, fish balls, etc. I stir it for 5 mins or so for the ingredients to heat through and for the flavors to merge. A tasty way to use up leftover rice if it is too wet for fried rice.
Great tip, Kent, thank you for sharing :-)
Thank you for this wonderful recipe! I recently bought some century eggs after craving them for nostalgic reasons. Sadly, I found I could no longer handle them on their own anymore (I’m gonna have to try one with soy sauce though), but this recipe perfectly balances out the ammonia taste! I followed the recipe to a T and the congee came out amazingly thick and rich. I almost couldn’t believe I made it in such a short time. Even though I never ate this growing up (my parents were more of the eight treasure congee types), eating it was soooo comforting. I’m so glad I discovered this recipe, which I’m definitely keeping in my back pocket from now on!
Sweet! Gotta love that :-)
Very helpful and delicious
So glad that you found it helpful.
Thank you thank you thank you for this recipe! It really is miraculous. It’s been a stressful year so I’ve been eating a lot of congee. I’m kicking myself for not trying this way sooner. Now I’m off to put containers of rice in the freezer
Hahaha…so glad you finally tried this recipe :-)
It works and it came out like my mom used to make. Thanks. I made it of chicken added lap cheong and the salted duck eggs u made using your recipe, got Great reviews. Thanks
Yayyy! So happy to hear that :-)
After reading the comments I decided to cook the rice for 20 minutes before adding the rest of the ingredients. I used pork neck instead because I like fattier cuts and added 3 pei dan because I must have multiple pieces in each spoon bite:) I served it with yauhjagwai. The jook came out beautifully and was so reminiscent of my childhood. It’s extremely important for me to pass on Chinese culinary traditions to my children here in the States so I thank you for making it very easy to do so.
I am so glad that hear that. Thank you for your lovely comment.
Hi Judy, the frozen rice is raw rice or cooked rice?
Raw ;-)