Chinese Rice Congee with Pork Floss

Ingredients

• 1 cup jasmine or short-grain rice, rinsed
• 10 cups water or light chicken broth (or a mix)
• 1 thumb-size piece ginger, sliced
• 1 tsp salt, or to taste
• 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
• To top: pork floss (rousong)
• pickled mustard greens (zha cai), chopped
• sliced green onions and cilantro
• toasted sesame oil and soy sauce
• fried shallots or a soft-boiled egg (optional)

Steps

1. Put the rice, water and ginger in a Dutch oven and bring to a boil, stirring so the rice doesn't stick.
2. Lower the heat and simmer, partly covered, stirring every 10 minutes and more often toward the end, until the grains break down into a thick, creamy porridge, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.
3. Add more water if it gets thicker than you like; congee should pour slowly from a spoon.
4. Season with salt and white pepper and remove the ginger.
5. Ladle into bowls and top with pork floss, pickled mustard greens, green onions, cilantro and a drizzle of sesame oil and soy sauce.

TipFreeze the rinsed, drained rice for an hour before cooking; the ice crystals crack the grains and the congee turns creamy in about half the time.