Chaogavietnamesericeporridge Recipes

CHAO GA - VIETNAMESE RICE PORRIDGE

Steps:

• Place rice and glutinous rice in a large pot with water and stock.
• Bring to boil then lower heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally.
• Cook until rice is very soft and mixture is thick. Roughly 45-60 minutes.
• Add fish sauce, sugar, shredded chicken, mushrooms, and poultry seasoning.
• Stir Gently.
• If desired, to Poach eggs: add to top of the mixture and cover.
• Let it simmer an additional 5-10 minutes, or the eggs are cooked to your liking.
• Spoon porridge into individual serving bowls.
• Garnish with spring onion.
• Sprinkle with pepper.

CHáO Gà (VIETNAMESE CHICKEN RICE PORRIDGE / CONGEE)

Steps:

• If you're using leftover or roasted chicken or turkey, remove about 75% of the meat and reserve this to add to your soup / cháo when serving.
• In a large stock pot, add the chicken or turkey, 85% of the filtered water, ginger, onion, salt and fish sauce over high heat. Once it hits a boil, reduce the heat so its at a low to medium simmer. The water should just about cover all the meat and bones. If your pot is very wide, keep in mind you may be using more water than listed, and you may need to add less in the final steps later when adjusting for consistency. Skim off any scum if necessary during the boil. Keep adding water to the pot as it evaporates so the bones remain covered.
• After about 90-120 minutes or when the meat has softened enough to easily be pulled off the bone, remove the poultry and let cool for about 10 minutes. Using your hands or a fork, remove the rest of the meat from the bones. Add the meat back into the pot. Discard the bones, onion, and ginger, since they've given their all to the broth at this point.
• Rice method A (saves time): While your broth is going, cook your rice in a rice cooker. Use equal scoops rice to water, it should finish cooking before your broth above is ready. Add the cooked rice to the pot and simmer on medium to soften the rice. About 10-20 min.
• Rice method B (less things to wash): Add all the raw rice to the pot and return to the heat on high until it hits a boil. Then lower the heat to a low-medium simmer until the rice is cooked and hits a soft consistency you like. It will take about 45-60 minutes depending on your stove. Here's the consistency after boiling, but before adjusting with more water.
• Once the rice is cooked to the doneness you like, which should be very soft way beyond al dente and beyond how you'd eat it outside of soup, adjust the water level. Fun fact, for my family soup thickness is a huge point of contention. Do what you want. Personally, I don't want the soup like a thick paste, but also don't want it so thin that you only see water when looking down at the pot. I want the soup to have a little substance and feel filling.
• Reseason the soup. Reseason with just salt, just fish sauce or equal parts of both to taste. The seasoning measured above is intentially less salt than we need so we can reseason here based on how thick you decided to make the soup.
• Remove from the heat, serve with garnish and accoutrement, and enjoy!

SCANDINAVIAN-STYLE RICE PORRIDGE

Steps:

• Using a rolling pin, crush the cardamom seeds until very fine. Place the cardamom, milk, rice, and butter into a deep, heavy pan. While slowly stirring the milk mixture, cook over medium heat for 90 minutes. Lower the heat if necessary to prevent the milk from boiling or overheating. Stir in the sugar, and continue cooking until the mixture thickens, about 15 minutes more.
• Pour the rice mixture into a serving bowl. Place 3 tablespoons butter on top, and allow to melt. Dust with cinnamon. Serve warm or cold.

HMONG RICE PORRIDGE

Steps:

• Add the water or broth of your choice, rice and lemongrass into a pot and bring to a boil. Cook for about 7 minutes on high, stirring constantly to keep the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
• Reduce the heat to medium-low to simmer, continue to cook until the rice is soft.
• Put the ground meat into a bowl and add a little bit of warm water to break the meat apart, you don't want it sticking together but in small little clumps.
• Pour the meat into the porridge and stir. Add a pinch of salt and black pepper to taste. Cook for 10 more minutes or until the meat is no longer pink.
• Remove the lemongrass and serve warm.

SUPER-SIMPLE OVERNIGHT PORRIDGE

Steps:

• In a 4-quart saucepan, combine the rice, chicken stock, and water. Cover and let sit overnight at cool room temperature (around or below 60°F) or in the refrigerator.
• The next morning, add the ginger and the white parts of the green onions to the pot. Partially cover (a small gap is perfect to minimize evaporation and avoid a boil over) and bring to vigorous simmer over high heat. Lower the heat and gently simmer, partially covered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and adjusting the heat as needed. When done, most of the liquid will have been absorbed (you'll see little separation between the rice and liquid). Discard the ginger and green onions. Stir the pot, cover tightly, turn off the heat, and let rest for 10 minutes to finish thickening. The desired thickness of the porridge can vary according to taste; it can be rustic and thick, or elegant and thin, or somewhere in between. If needed, add a splash of water to thin or cook a little longer to thicken. Taste and season with the salt.
• When ready to serve, reheat the porridge to a simmer, then ladle into individual bowls. Garnish with sliced green onions and pepper.
• Embellishments:
• Lean, light-tasting cháo responds well to fatty, salty, spicy, herbal enhancements. In addition to (or instead of) garnishing your porridge with green onion and pepper, consider the following, and feel free to mix and match.
• Toppings:
• Crisp chopped bacon, a fried or soft-boiled egg, and maybe chopped kimchi for punch.
• Lemongrass Tempeh Crumbles or Crispy Caramelized Pork Crumbles.
• Chopped Sriracha Tofu, fried onions or shallots, and coarsely chopped fresh cilantro, mint, or basil.
• Add-ins:
• Crack a raw egg into the bowl before ladling in the hot soup. Top with crumbled rice crackers and perhaps ribbons of Korean toasted seaweed snacks (one pack of gim is enough for a batch). Stir well before eating.
• Drop 8 ounces of raw peeled shrimp into the soup as it heats. When the shrimp are pink and cooked through, ladle out the soup. Add slivered ginger and maybe some gim.
• Stir in raw or seared mushroom. Add a handful of shredded cooked chicken or some shrimp, or both.