Comfort Cuisine: Sanbyoke (Congee-Chicken Rice Soup)
Well, I got COVID. Again. This round was thankfully lighter than the 2020 version, but still brutal.
So what to eat when you feel like garbage? I revert to my Burmese roots when I feel ill, so I made Sanbyoke, (also known as Congee). It is a type of rice porridge that is not too thick, not too thin, and topped with simple condiments, like spring onion, chili or fried shallots. It is basically a warm hug in a bowl. This is a simple adjusted version that is basically set and forget, which is perfect when you are sick. I didn’t even thaw the chicken drumsticks, I just tossed everything in and was plesantly surprised with the results! You could do this on the stovetop, but this recipe is all in the rice cooker. And the bonus is that it doesn’t heat up the entire kitchen in a Roman summer.
Ingredients
225 grams/1 1/2 cups jasmine rice (I would only use jasmine rice here!)
1.5 litres/6 cups water
one bouillon cube (chicken, vegetable or kub or)
one garlic clove halved, stem removed
15 grams/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, skin off left whole (if you grate it, your soup will be fire, leave it whole)
2 chicken drumsticks or one very large chicken thigh, bone in + skin on
condiments: white pepper, green onion, fried scallions, chili flakes
Directions
Rinse out the rice until the water goes clear. Put the rice, water, bouillon cube, garlic, ginger and chicken in the rice cooker. Set it for 40 min. Stir and break up the rice and chickenmeat. Add additional water if desired. Cook for another 20 minutes. Season with white pepper, green onion, fried scallions, chili flakes. Done.