Chicken rice soup

Sometimes the best food, that is typical of a type of cuisine, can be found in 'peasant food'. I don't think that we really have peasants anymore (we're well out of the Middle Ages, I hope!) but I think that you know what I mean. By peasant food, I mean food that has been around for years and years, is cheap to make and was eaten by the everyday-person. This type of food is normally very true to its region, the flavours are just right. Another advantage to food like this, is that the dish is usually easy to cook.

I love this dish because it's quick to whip up (although needs a while for boiling) and is super tasty. I am not sure what you would call it: Chinese rice soup, congee, or Chinese porridge. None of those names sound that appetizing to me. I call it by its Chinese name: jook. You say it like 'book' but with a 'j'.

Jook is typically eaten for breakfast or lunch, its mixture of rice and meat makes for a great meal. I remember visiting Hong Kong years ago and seeing little hole-in-the-wall noodle houses serving up big bowls of this at breakfast time. Formica tables, little stools, locals hunched over steaming bowls and the aromas of rice, ginger and garlic swirling around the street.

This dish uses a few basic ingredients so it is easy to make when the mood strikes. The recipe that I have here is for chicken jook, but you can easily add bite sized pieces of fish or thinly sliced pork just before serving. This soup is great because the long boiling breaks the rice down and releases its starches, thickening the soup naturally.

Chicken rice soup

Ingredients

1/2 cup short or medium grain rice
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
5cm (approx 25g) fresh ginger, peeled and grated
4 chicken drumsticks, skinless; or 1 chicken frame
1.5l water
1 tsp salt
3 tsp light soya sauce
1 spring onion, finely sliced
sesame oil

Directions

1. Put the rice into a large pot and wash with a little water. Pour off the water
2. Add the garlic, ginger, chicken, water salt and soya sauce and bring to the boil. If you are using a chicken frame, put it in a cheesecloth bag so the bones don't go through the soup
3. Turn the heat down to a low simmer and cook for 1.5 hours

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