Chicken Congee

Chicken Congee. A comforting rice porridge with chicken, scallions and ginger that satisfies your taste buds! Ready in 30 minutes!

The perfect one pot meal for a cold day!

Growing up, congee was comfort food for me. Whenever I got sick, my mom would make us a large pot of this comforting rice porridge and we'd eat it anytime of the day until we felt better.

In Chinese culture, it's often eaten during the cold winter days as its a great way to warm your body up, thanks to the warming properties of the chicken, ginger and the porridge itself. However, you can eat this dish anytime of the year. It's a humble meal made with simple ingredients that most Asians would have in their household.

Many Asian countries have their own version of congee, but I'll be sharing a Chinese chicken congee that is served at many Chinese restaurants. In fact, sometimes my husband and I order congee as our meal of the day paired with deep-fried fritters and veggies - it's so satisfying!

What is Congee?

It's rice cooked over medium heat in a lot of water. The rice expands over time in the water creating a smooth rice porridge. Different toppings are added to congee, such as chicken, pork, duck, beef, eggs, century egg, taro, and more! There are many versions of congee but today I'm making a very popular version!

Easy Chicken Congee

There are many congee recipes online but this one is the best and it's so quick and easy! It comes together in 30 minutes in one pot, with humble ingredients that are easily accessible. It's also great as leftovers as you can easily reheat it the next day over the stove top.

Ingredients

This recipe for chicken rice congee requires the below ingredients. ***Please scroll down to the below Recipe card for full measurements***

• Jasmine rice: The best type of rice for a delicious simple rice porridge is long grain rice, specifically jasmine rice. You may also substitute with any long-grain rice or short-grain rice. I like using long grain jasmine rice as the rice grains are longer and thinner than short grain rice, so they quickly disintegrate.
  • For a healthier alternative, you may use brown rice, but this will take 30 minutes or longer to cook through.

• Chicken: breast or boneless chicken thighs will work.
  • If you have leftover chicken bones, you may add it to the water the same time you add the rice, so it helps flavor it.
  • If you have rotisserie chicken meat or shredded chicken, you can also add this at the end when your congee is cooked.
• Water: Or for an extra flavorful congee, substitute with unsalted chicken broth or chicken stock if you don't mind a slightly brown chicken rice porridge. Feel free to use homemade stock or store-bought stock. If you don't have stock, water works just fine!

Seasoning

• Ginger: A small amount of fresh ginger goes a long way in this dish and helps to sharpen the flavor of your creamy porridge.
  • This ingredient is optional if you don't like ginger.
• Green onions: Separate the spring onions between the green parts from the whites. We'll be adding the white part to the congee first and using the scallion greens as a garnish.
• Salt: To help season the Chinese rice porridge for taste. I like using sea salt to season this!
• Chicken bouillon powder: aka Chicken stock powder to give the congee more depth in flavor.

Chicken marinade:

• Cornstarch: To help seal the moisture in the sliced chicken breasts or chicken meat making it very tender when you boil it in the congee.
• Avocado oil or any neutral oil: This makes the sliced chicken slippery and moist so when you add it to your congee, it won't stick to the other pieces and stays juicy.
• Regular soy sauce: Just your regular all-purpose soy sauce. The label will simply say "Soy Sauce" and do not use light soy sauce or dark soy sauce. You may replace with low sodium soy sauce.
  • Any Asian supermarket, western grocer or online retailer, like Amazon, will carry this ingredient. If you don't have soy sauce, you can also substitute with fish sauce.
• White pepper: Commonly used to season Congee as it's more floral in fragrance. You may substitute with black pepper.

Equipment: medium pot and whisk

How to make Chicken Congee

Below are visuals to show you how to make chicken breast congee. ***Please scroll down to the recipe card below to find full instructions and details***

1. Slice chicken breast thinly or in small pieces. Transfer to a bowl. Marinate sliced chicken with Marinade ingredients as listed above and set aside.
2. Rinse the grains of rice at least 3 times until the water runs clear to remove excess starch. Strain and set aside.
3. Add 5 cups water to a medium size pot. Bring to boil. Add in washed rice. Give it a stir. Then lower heat to medium heat. Do not stir the rice after this point as this causes the rice to stick to the bottom of pot. Boil for 22 minutes half covered with a lid to allow steam to escape. Do not cover fully.
4. At 22-minute mark, use a whisk and rapidly stir the rice until it breaks down, about 1-2 minutes. If you don't own a whisk, allow this to cook for another 20-30 minutes until the rice breaks down on its own.
5. Add in the marinated chicken in batches, followed by scallion whites and ginger. Give it a mix. Boil chicken until fully cooked, about 2 minutes.
6. Season with salt and chicken powder. Remove off heat. If you like the congee less thick, mix in another ½ cup of water and season with more salt to taste if needed.
7. Serve and garnish with scallion greens. Enjoy!

Cooking Tips

Below are tips on making the best chicken congee recipe:

Rinse your rice

Wash your rice at least 3 times until the water runs clear to remove any residual starch. This makes the congee less thick, as well.

Do not stir more than once

Once you add your rice to the boiling water, stir once to break the rice and do not stir again until you're ready to whisk it. If you stir it, the movement allows for the starch to come out of the rice which causes the rice to stick to the bottom of the pan or pot.

Use a whisk to help reduce cooking time

At the 22-minute mark, use a whisk and stir the congee rapidly to break down the rice. Otherwise, if you don't, it'll take another 20-30 minutes for the rice to disintegrate. You can also use an immersion blender to pulse blend, but don't over do it.

Add chicken in batches

I recommend adding the chicken in a few pieces at a time to prevent the chicken from sticking to each other and giving it a stir. This also allows for it to cook evenly.

Once congee is seasoned, remove off heat

The residual heat on the stove top burner can cause the congee to stick to the bottom of the pot.

FAQ

Below are frequently asked questions about this chicken ginger congee:

How long will this last for?

Up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge.

How do I make my congee less thick?

Start by mixing in ½ cup water to the cooked congee and give it a stir. See if it's to your liking and season with more salt to taste. If you like it thinner, add more a bit more water.

Can I top off this congee with any finishing oils?

Sure, chili oil for a spicy kick or sesame oil for a nuttier flavor would be great finishing oils to add on top. Just a little drizzle goes a long way!

Other soup-like recipes you may like!

If you enjoyed this Cantonese chicken congee recipe, you may like these other soup-like recipes:

• Egg Drop Soup
• Miso Soup
• Hong Kong Style Macaroni Soup
• Tteok Mandu Guk (Korean Rice Cake Dumpling Soup)
• Chicken Barley Vegetable Soup
• Instant Pot Chinese Watercress Soup
• Easy Fish Ball Noodle Soup (15-Min. Recipe)
• Pork Kimchi Jjigae - Kimchi Stew (30 Min)

I hope you give my recipe a try and enjoy it!

If you enjoyed my chicken congee soup, please leave a star rating and share it with your family and friends or on social media! Take a picture of your re-creation and make sure to tag me @ChristieAtHome in your feed or stories as I would love to see it!

Christie

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