Congee—Asian Rice Porridge Finding Fans in El Cerrito and Environs

During the most recent bout of heavy rain in the Bay Area, my son and I were contemplating congee while warming up and drying out over a bowl of it at .

“Some of my friends haven’t had it yet, which I totally don’t get,” said Matthew, “since it’s kind of all over the place now and really good.”

Congee is porridge made by cooking a small volume of rice in a large volume of water or broth until it softens and breaks down. Eaten all over Asia—with each country or region giving it a unique twist depending upon the type of rice used, water-to-rice ratio, cooking time and seasonings—congee ranges from something akin to American chicken and rice soup to almost jellylike.

Of the many forms in existence, you’re most likely to run into Cantonese-style congee, a particularly broken-down incarnation made by cooking long-grain rice in at least 10 times its volume in water a very long time. It’s often enjoyed as a breakfast food with so-called “Chinese donuts”—long, deep-fried crullers—which are dipped into congee the way a donut is dipped into a cup of coffee.

Since it’s neutral, congee works well when infused with flavor by add-ins, like roast pork, fish fillet, dried scallops—and myriad others. Roasted peanuts and chopped green onions often top things off, and sometimes a drizzle of toasted sesame oil is added.

Thanks in part to good press and exposure as a gluten-free food, congee has become more popular with non-Asians in recent years, but it’s still unfamiliar—or unappealing—to many. The thought of porridge may be more Oliver Twist than comfort food, but I encourage you to try it with something you love added. My favorite is BBQ duck, whose juices inform the entire contents.

It’s also very easy to make at home.

I save and freeze chicken and turkey carcasses for the purpose, but also use chicken broth or water—especially when adding leftover meat, like pork chops or roast chicken, for which congee is a great vehicle.

My cooking vessel of choice is a glazed clay pot over a flame tamer—a coated cast iron or aluminum disk that distributes heat evenly and helps prevent burning. Often hard to come by, they’re usually carried by in El Cerrito, of all places.

Another great way to go is a large slow cooker, like a Crock-Pot, which can produce your congee while you sleep—or you can set it up in the morning for that night’s dinner.

Fuzzy logic rice cookers usually have a congee mode, but note that you may need to alter quantities to produce the kind of congee you want. A number of my colleagues have warned me that the porridge mode on a given machine may correspond to the type of porridge popular in the country of manufacture.

If you’re interested in trying your hand at basic or souped-up Cantonese-style congee, check out the attached recipe. As ever, please email me with questions or for more information.

You’ll also find congee at these restaurants:

El Cerrito

  Pork and Black Egg, Sliced Beef, Sampan, Chicken and Black Mushroom and Cod Fillet congee are available at this Hong Kong-style place at $4.88 each, but there’s bargain congee between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.—$2.88.

is a mom and pop with excellent porridge that’ll set you back $4 or $6. There are nine choices, including Two Kinds of Preserved Egg & Salted Pork ($4).

used to have congee, and I’m hoping they reopen soon once they recover from .

serves up Vietnamese-style porridge, called cháo, topped with green onion, cilantro and fried onion. It's $7 or $8, depending upon the chosen protein.

El Cerrito/Richmond border—at or near Pacific East Mall

Daimo (3288 Pierce Street, Richmond). Open early and late with lots of options at $6.50 or $6.80. The roast duck version has big pieces of duck on the bone that perfume the whole affair, and the lettuce and diced fish balls is good too.

Saigon Seafood Harbor Restaurant (3150 Pierce Street, Richmond) is the big, shiny, new Cantonese player in town. More than 15 varieties with seafood o’plenty at an average price of about $6.

Asian Pearl (3288 Pierce Street, Richmond—in the mall). The dried scallop congee makes a great lunch, and they have about 10 options on the lunch menu of this dim sum house—$6.50 each.