Fish Rice Porridge (Jook)

If you haven't already figured this out about me, I'm about to shock the socks off of you.

I don't like chinese food.

I don't hate it, I'll eat it if I have to but if I had a preference between Chinese food and another cuisine, Chinese never wins. Growing up, all I ever ate was Chinese food, it's the only thing my mom knew how to make. Not to say my mother can't cook, she definitely can and I do love her cooking but in my mind, why pay for it if I can get it at home? Oh, and don't even get me started on P.F. Chang's! Overpriced disgrace to Chinese food!

It's safe to say that since I don't really enjoy Chinese food, I don't really know how to cook it. I kinda leave that to my mom (she still sends food and a container of tong my way everytime I visit). There is one dish that my mom makes that I haven't had in a while, Fish Rice Porridge or Fish Jook. You all know how my sorry attempt at Jook turned out last time (see Sook) so I was a little nervous. Several google searches later, I was convinced it would be as easy as pie, er, jook.

I'll definitely be adding this into the rotation. Easy, delicious and oh-so-comforting!

Bon Appetit!

Fish Jook with Chinese Doughnuts & Garlic Chives

Fish Jook
2 Cups Rice
14 Cups of Water (or more if you like it thinner)
Ginger, sliced in big chunks so you can avoid it later (Surprise! Surprise! i hate ginger, too!)
1/2 lb filet of cod
Salt

Bring Rice & Water to a boil and add salt. Reduce heat to simmer, cover partially with lid and simmer for 1.5 hours.

Rinse cod filets and cut fish into thin slices. Marinate the fish in salt, pepper, white pepper, sesame oil and a little corn starch. Marinating is completely optional. Store fish in refrigerator while jook continues to cook.

After the rice has broken down and the mixture has a "jook-like" texture, add the ginger and simmer for another 20 minutes. Check thickness and add more water if you like.

Right before serving, add the fish in and cook for approximately 2 minutes. Ladle into a bowl and add your favorite toppings.

My Favorite Jook Toppings:
Soy sauce
Sesame Oil
White Pepper
Garlic Chives
Preserved Vegetables
Chinese Doughnut

The usual suspects: Soy Sauce & Preserved Vegetables

sook

i'm in the mood for soup. no, wait, i want rice. hmmm, but i really want soup. and i want it to be hearty...

i sliced some sausages, chopped half an onion and browned it in a pot since i knew i'd be making soup (i'm a huge fan of one pot meals). i poured in chicken stock and waited (impatiently) for it to boil. once the soup came to a boil, i added in the wild rice and let it simmer for half an hour, stirring occasionally.

i turned the heat back to medium-high and added jasmine rice to the pot (i like to use both types of rice together to create different textures) along with sliced celery. once the soup came to a boil, i turned the heat down and let it simmer for 15 minutes. just as i started to serve the soup i realized, "i don't want soup anymore, i want jook!" but my soup was too soupy so i threw the lid on a hoped that the rice would absorb more of the liquid.

30 minutes later...
it wasn't exactly jook, but it wasn't exactly soup. it was soupy jook, SOOK!

my sook


real jook (source: wikipedia)


jook facts

• commonly referred to as congee or porridge
• typically eaten for breakfast in china
• after a quick check on wikipedia, i found out that there are 19 different countries that make some variation of jook
• my favorite is soft, white fish jook