My shredded chicken porridge

We had shredded chicken porridge (congee) for breakfast this morning.  Yay!! It was delicious!! The only part that is missing the "soto" soup!

Porridge is eaten in many Asian countries, usually for breakfast or late suppers. Back in the day, Dad often brought us to Johor, Malaysia to have late supper. The food was good and the price was definitely cheap. I cant remember the  name of the street but I remember the food vendors would close the parking lot in the evening to open for business. :( There were  a lot of food vendors selling the same type of food and mostly were seafood. My parents knew one of the owners. They are our family friends. They had really good porridge. The accompaniments were roasted peanuts, fried anchovies, fried salted fish, salted hard-boiled egg and spicy kangkong. I always gave my mom the salted hard-boiled egg and ate the rest.. I am not too sure if the food vendors still there now.

My style of shredded chicken porridge is very easy ...and I am glad hubby likes it too.. 

Ingredients:

1 cup of washed long grain rice (rinsed well and soaked in water for 15 minutes)

10 cups of chicken stock.

2 chicken legs (may use any part of chicken)

chopped spring onions

fried shallots

Seasoning:

salt to taste

white pepper to taste

Habhal's sweet soya bean sauce or light soy sauce.

a few drops of sesame oil

Bring chicken and chicken stock to a boil in a heavy pot. Allow to cook until just done. Remove and set aside to cool. Shred the meat with finger tips.

Pour stock through a large sieve into a large bowl and discard solids. Return stock to a cleaned pot and add rice. Bring to a boil. When the rice is boiling, turn the heat down to medium low. Place the lid on the pot, tilting it to allow steam to escape. Cook on medium low to low heat, stirring occasionally, until the rice has the thick, creamy texture of porridge (1 - 1 1/4 hours). Add the salt, to taste. Remove from heat. Pour into serving bowls, top up some shredded chicken, spring onions, fried shallots, some sesame seed oil and white pepper. Serve hot.

My accompaniments were scrambled eggs, spicy chai poh and Habhal's sweet soya bean sauce.

NOTES:

• There are basically 3 consistency and it corresponds to the rice-water ratio. This ratio is for cooking over the stove top where more evaporation takes place.

1 cup rice to 8 cups water : THICK
1 cup rice to 10 cups water : MEDIUM
1 cup rice to 13 cups water : THIN

• Well-washed rice is important as you want to wash away any excess rice flour which may affect the texture of the porridge.
• You can also use left over rice to make porridge. 
• The chicken meat will become tough if you over-cooked.