Roasted Duck Mixed Congee

Using some leftover roasted duck from one of my many Chinese New Year feasts, I managed to whip up an unsuspectingly delicious bowl of silky smooth congee (or porridge as it's more commonly called in Malaysia). By just adding some other dried stuff like scallops, oysters and such, the congee takes on a super lovely flavor and aroma! To achieve a bowl of silky smooth and thick congee quite like the version one usually gets in dim sum restaurants, there are 2 tips for home cooks which my sister-in-law imparted to me a while back. So, enough said, here are the recipe and tips.This recipe serves 2-3.

- 130g Jasmine rice/white long-grain rice

- Approx. 2 liters water
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (Shao Tsing/Hua Tiaow wine)

1. Wash rice twice - each time with clean tap water. Discard the water.
2. * Place rice in a pressure cooker, pot or rice cooker.
3. Add the water, cooking oil (tip #1) and cooking wine.
4. Leave to soak for 30-40 minutes (tip #2).

While the rice is soaking, prepare:
- Approx. 300g store-bought roasted duck, cut into small pieces
- 4 pieces dried scallops, wash and soak for 10 minutes, then break into strands
- 4 pieces dried oysters, wash and soak for 10 minutes, then chop into small bits
- 3 pieces dried shitake mushrooms, wash and soak for 30 minutes or till soften, trim off stems and cut into strips
- 2 pieces dried black wood's ear/cloud's ear, wash and soak for 30 minutes or till soften, trim off 'heads' and cut into thin strips
- 30g groundnuts, remove skin and split in 2 (cooks faster)
- 130g minced pork or chicken

After the rice has been soaked for the required time, add in all the ingredients above into the pot. Cook until the congee is thick but not dry, and smooth. If the water evaporates and the congee becomes too thick while cooking, some hot water can be added in. Do not add too much water at a time as this will dilute its flavor.

* For faster cooking time, use a pressure cooker. Using a pot over a stove or an electronic rice cooker is fine too. If using a pot, clay pot is the best. I have a phobia of pressure cooker, so I don't own one. I cooked my congee in my much-loved automatic rice cooker. With automatic rice cooker, the heat will turn off by itself after a certain point when the congee has been cooking for long and as it gets thicker. What I did was to let it rest for a few minutes before pressing the 'cook' button again as I wanted my congee to cook longer and soften even more. Using the rice cooker, my cooking time was approx. 1 hour to 1.15 hour.

For garnish:
- Chopped cilantro
- Chopped spring onion
- Crispy fried shallots (thinly slice 10-12 shallots and fry in hot oil in a wok/pan over medium low heat till golden brown. the amount of oil should be enough to cover the shallots)
- Chopped/sliced fresh chilies (normally congee is not accompanied by chilies, but I much prefer mine with them)

Enjoy!

Best,