Core Tip: Many people think that cooking congee is simple, just rice in boiling water. But to cook a pot of thick, smooth, and fragrant congee, there is still a lot of knowledge involved.
Cold water soak. Before cooking, soak the rice in cold water for half an hour to allow the grains to expand. This not only makes the congee cook faster, saving time and gas, but also makes the congee soft, glutinous, sweet, and easy to digest.
Boiling water in the pot. Using tap water directly to cook congee will cause the chlorine in the water to destroy vitamin B1 in the rice. If you use boiled water, the chlorine will mostly evaporate with the steam, preventing the loss of nutrients. In addition, using boiling water from the start prevents the bottom from burning and saves more time than using cold water.
Add enough water. Before starting to cook, it's best to add enough water at once. Do not add water midway, otherwise, the congee's thickness and rich aroma will be greatly compromised.
Stirring. When cooking congee, stir in one direction. This ensures the congee cooks evenly and has a rich rice aroma. There is a technique to stirring: after adding the rice to boiling water, stir a few times, then cover and simmer on low heat for 20 minutes. Then, stir continuously for about another 10 minutes until the congee becomes thick.
Add a little oil. About 10 minutes after reducing the heat, add a little salad oil. You will find that the congee cooked this way not only looks bright and glossy but is also delicious and smooth to eat. Furthermore, adding oil has another benefit: it prevents the pot from boiling over. Because the boiling point of oil is higher than that of water, and the cooking temperature for congee does not reach the oil's boiling point, the oil floats on top of the water. Even if the water reaches its boiling point, it will not boil over.
Cook the base and ingredients separately. Most people are used to throwing everything into the pot at once when cooking congee, but this is not the best method. It's better to cook the rice base and the ingredients separately first, and then combine them to simmer together for no more than 10 minutes at the end. This results in a clear, not cloudy, congee where each ingredient's flavor is fully extracted without mixing. This is especially important when the ingredients are meat or seafood.