I bought some roasted pork feet from Hons. I found that the roasted pork feet in Hons is more meaty than other stores. That’s probably why Hons charges $1.50 for one while the Parker Place charges only $1.
I got $1 discount from the butcher in Hons when I bought 4 pork feet.
The above is about 2 roasted pork feet. I selected the more bony ones to cook porridge while I reserved the more meaty ones for the Asam Gai Choy.
Making porridge is very simple. Bring a big pot of water to a boil. Add about 2 cups of rice (rice measuring cup). I added a large piece of ginger to the porridge for flavouring. I also added a teaspoon of salt and sometimes I will add two teaspoons of oil. But if I’m making porridge with roasted pork feet, I will leave out the oil. Add the roasted pork feet and let it boil until it reduces to the consistency you prefer. It normally takes about 45 minutes to an hour to cook porridge.
You’ll have to stir the porridge from time to time to prevent it from sticking to the pot. Just becareful when you stir at the end of the cooking as the hot porridge will splatter.
I had always wonder how the restaurant make such smooth porridge. Do they cook them for a long time or do they blend the porridge to get a smooth texture?
Serve the porridge with more sliced ginger and chopped green onions. My family like to add some soy sauce for flavour and colour. I like lots of white pepper and maybe a few drops of sesame oil.
We also like to serve salted egg as a side dish when serving porridge. Porridge is comfort food for the Chinese and is always served when someone is not feeling well and has no appetite to eat. What is your comfort food?
Hi! I found one way to make it like the “Jook” houses is to use a wire whisk and beat the plain porridge towards the end. I was watching the cooks at Ling Nam on Broadway street in San Francisco and they would take some from the large pot, put it in a smaller pot that they could hold one handed and whip it until it was smooth and frothy. Then they would add in the chicken/fish/beef and finish it for a moment or two before serving. Cheers! (love your site!)
Just wanted to thank you for this post. I’ve never done a porridge before and this looks delicious and easy.
Never had roasted pork feet before too — but they look good in the future so I might just have to trot over the Hons and get them.
Oh, with regards to the creamy porridge texture, a family friend of ours usually breaks the rice kernels prior the cooking. Her porridge comes out creamier than my mum’s.
When I make congee/jook, I take about 4 cups of unfinished congee from the pot, place in a smaller saucepan, and use my handheld blender to smooth it out. My blender is from the Canadian Superstore (with detachable stainless steel lower portion containing blade). With the creamed congee put back in the larger pot, the remainder will assume that restaurant-quality smoothness.
Just be sure to be careful with blending hot, sticky congee that can easily burn you if splattered. If you prefer, a standard blender would do nicely.
i blend mine, too. always thought i was cheating but didn’t care.
i love congee infinity.