Wong Family Traditions

Congee is a Chinese tradition and ridiculously cheap to make. A family of four can eat for under $5. I learned to make this recipe so I could serve dinner to my kung fu friends. You can prepare the ingredients before hand and cook them all up in a rice cooker at the side of the class!

This is based on a recipe I found on steamykitchen.com. That recipe is okay for basic congee, but is not as delicious as the modified version I created below. I’ve also changed the ingredients to make a smaller batch than the original recipe.

Serves 3-4

• 2 tbl of vegetable oil
• 1/4 lb of ground beef, marinated in
  • 3 tbl soy sauce
  • 2 tbl cornstarch
  • 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 inch piece of ginger
• 1/2 cup of raw rice
• 5 cups of water
• 1 cube of chicken bouillon
• 1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup of chopped chinese brocolli or bok choy
• 2 diced stalks of green onions
• crushed chips (fried wonton skins, pita chips, or tortilla chips)

1. In a rice cooker, stock pot or sauce pan, saute the ground beef and ginger in the oil until thoroughly brown.
2. Add rice, water, and bouillon cube and boil under medium heat for 45 minutes.
3. Add mushrooms and vegetables and boil for 10-15 minutes.
4. Ladle into bowls, sprinkle on green onions and chips.

The recipe is pretty simple, so you can use practically any king of ingredient combinations to provide variety.

Health Kung Fu Variant:

For a congee that is slightly less delicious and less likely to encourage you to overeat, leave out the bouillon cube.

Other Variants:

• Try using chopped potatoes and carrots instead of ground beef.
• Top the congee with bacon instead of chips (Robin’s variant)

Happy New Year dear WongWays readers! The year of the Rat officially began February 7th and will go through January 25, 2009. The next year will be the year of the Ox.

The rat (or mouse) is the first animal in the twelve-animal Chinese Zodiac and promises wealth and order for us in 2008. The sign also brings ambition and charm–appropriate for an election year. This sounds like a good year to plan new busines ventures and think carefully about who you will vote for during the presidential election.

May you have a successful Year of the Rat!