Q: What makes you feel as satisfied and accomplished as your table beating 60 other tables at a Mensa IQ Test at the It Fund For Kids?
A: Making an incredibly easy, incredibly cheap, incredibly healthy homecooked meal.
I was craving some hot congee, since it’s been so cold and dreary lately as we slip into winter here in Australia. Unfortunately, none of the restaurants near me serve congee on the menu – at least not that I know of. Plus, I wanted to try my hand at cooking it 😛 All up, it took maybe 5 mins max of preparation time, cost about $5 (makes enough for 4 people, so technically $1.25 per person!) and is such a satisfying and wholesome meal!
I’m really proud ‘cos I didn’t really use a recipe either.. just randomly dreamt it up and threw stuff together, crossed my fingers and hoped it’ll turn out 😉 The congee’s really filling and super healthy, plus the veg/mushrooms side dish was sooo tasty – and I normally would never eat veggies just like that. I’ve got leftovers so I can have it for lunch or dinner next, yay!
Beef, all ready to make into beefballs
Hot beefball congee… mmmmmmmmm….
Served with Chinese veg and mushrooms in Oyster sauce
Beefball Congee
500g lean mince beef
1/2 tbs coriander, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, mashed
1 tsp ginger, minced
1 tsp white pepper
1 tbs fish sauce
1/2 tbs light soy sauce
5 eggs
white rice
1 beef stock cube
1) Mix mince beef, coriander, garlic, ginger white pepper, fish sauce, light soy sauce, 1 egg in a bowl. Set aside.
2) Combine 1 cup rice with 4 cups water, add crumbled beef stock cube and some fish sauce and soy sauce.
3) Bring rice to boil, then reduce to a simmer. Stir frequently. Add hot water until desired consistency (mine took around 40 mins)
4) Add mince beef mixture, dropping into boiling rice in balls.
5) Turn off heat when beefballs are cooked (5-10 mins)
6) Crack 1 egg into an empty bowl. Pour hot congee on top and stir until egg is combined and congee turns a creamy yellow
7) Garnish with soy sauce, sliced ginger and fried onions
Stir fried veg and mushrooms
1 bunch Chinese broccoli
handful of mushrooms
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 clove garlic
1) Add garlic, Chinese broccoli and chopped mushrooms to fry pan on medium heat.
2) After 1 min of stirring, add 1 tablespoon hot water and oyster sauce.
3) Serve when veg is slightly wilted (approx 2-3 mins)
heh..your bf is such a lucky man =)
He pays for the groceries and cleans up afterwards.. so we’re even, hehe!!
that looks so delish! i’m going to try that soon…the beautiful thing about cooking congee is you can put pretty much anything into a good basic congee and it’d be yummy AND healthy! i don’t know if you like century egg and chicken congee, but there’s a recipe on my blog somewhere for that…it’s really good too!
now i’m totally craving congee…
I can’t find century egg around 🙁 I do like that tho! I like anything on congee.. haha. I LOVE those braised peanuts in there, next time I gotta find some and pop them in!
That’s weird that there isn’t century egg anywhere to be found…considering Australia’s large Asian population! I totally forgot about the braised peanuts but yeah I do LOVE those in there…in fact, I’m gonna leave my office right now to get myself some century egg/lean pork/peanut porridge for breakfast. Yummy!!
Oh it’s probably sold in AU, just not downstairs at the supermarket near me!
hahaha lazy lazy!!!! ;D i’m the same way…i used to only buy things i could find at (a) the grocery store across the street from my apartment, or (b) at the bodega (read: NY equivalent of the local mamak shop, except it’s larger and sells more stuff and run by either koreans or spanish families).
i’d tell you to go century egg hunting and buy in bulk, except that stuff doesn’t keep!! hey is it true that it’s preserved in *gulp* horse urine?!
i love eating congee! but i cant seem to make it that good – either too watery/too thick! haha, still love my mum’s the best 😛 and yours look yummy**
If you add water as you go, you should be able to get it to the consistency you want 🙂 It’s quite fun making it, haha!
heh..your bf is such a lucky man =)
He pays for the groceries and cleans up afterwards.. so we’re even, hehe!!
that looks so delish! i’m going to try that soon…the beautiful thing about cooking congee is you can put pretty much anything into a good basic congee and it’d be yummy AND healthy! i don’t know if you like century egg and chicken congee, but there’s a recipe on my blog somewhere for that…it’s really good too!
now i’m totally craving congee…
I can’t find century egg around 🙁 I do like that tho! I like anything on congee.. haha. I LOVE those braised peanuts in there, next time I gotta find some and pop them in!
That’s weird that there isn’t century egg anywhere to be found…considering Australia’s large Asian population! I totally forgot about the braised peanuts but yeah I do LOVE those in there…in fact, I’m gonna leave my office right now to get myself some century egg/lean pork/peanut porridge for breakfast. Yummy!!
Oh it’s probably sold in AU, just not downstairs at the supermarket near me!
hahaha lazy lazy!!!! ;D i’m the same way…i used to only buy things i could find at (a) the grocery store across the street from my apartment, or (b) at the bodega (read: NY equivalent of the local mamak shop, except it’s larger and sells more stuff and run by either koreans or spanish families).
i’d tell you to go century egg hunting and buy in bulk, except that stuff doesn’t keep!! hey is it true that it’s preserved in *gulp* horse urine?!
i love eating congee! but i cant seem to make it that good – either too watery/too thick! haha, still love my mum’s the best 😛 and yours look yummy**
If you add water as you go, you should be able to get it to the consistency you want 🙂 It’s quite fun making it, haha!
Thanks. My mum loves this stuff, so I passed along the recipe. 😛
Cool, I hope she likes it too!
hi, sorry to crash but your congee looks fantastic!! yummilicious!
Thanks, I was quite surprised it turned out, haha!
Mm I’m gonna try it out, even if it’s summer here right now 😛
Do you think I could use cooked rice and make congee with it? I have tons leftovers and it’s kinda dry so I wanna use it up somehow.
I doubt it 🙁 It’s because the rice needs to ‘break down’ in the water as it’s being cooked to make it creamy.. otherwise you might just end up with rice and water 😛 I dunno, it’s worth trying if you have so much leftover tho!
use cooked rice to create fried rice…it fries very well for exactly that reason!
Beverly’s congee just looked so delicious hehe… but good point!
Hehe I know!!!!! Bev, can I be your unofficial roommate? 😀
Haha… yes, if we can share clothes and accessories! 😉
let me lose 10kg first…i wouldn’t be able to fit into your little outfits otherwise!! 😛
yummy love mushrooms…
I HAVE to have mushrooms with most of my cooked veggies.. or it ain’t worth eating otherwise 😉
Thanks. My mum loves this stuff, so I passed along the recipe. 😛
Cool, I hope she likes it too!
it really does look very healthy and yet tempting.. hehe. 🙂
I LOVE the fact that it’s healthy and easy to prepare.. I’m all for easy cheap recipes 😉
just the thing I’m planning to make tomorrow. made a bowl today and only had a quarter before I gave up eating, ouchie poo.
Cool! Hope it works out for you too 🙂
Thanks for that…You know I have tried that three or four times and the consistancy was never right. It was either too liquidy with wierdy shaped rice yuk floating in it or one giant gooey mass – I am going to try this very soon. And the meat balls sound really tasty to add too. Yum. cant wait even tho in the US we are heading into summer… Its never a bad time for a warm bowl of something like this. or noodles.. well, i think so anyway…
have you seen the things ive been making with beads and buttons in my LJ lately? Got a new hobby 🙂 well, yet another one 🙂
i just stir in more hot water as I go, and stir it all the time so it’s really creamy… the meat balls add flavour to the congee when you cook it together :)~
Heh yes, you’re really creative! I tried my hand at doing it a few months back but I can’t be bothered doing more.. too much of a hassle for me, I’m lazy 😛
lol… its kind of ‘fiddly’ i guess…never thought working with two pliers would make sense…but im really liking it 🙂 its nice to accomplish something pretty, i guess
this is so funny…my flatties and I were craving for something porridge as well, so I made porridge, those kind you get from Crystal Jade back home. Just rolled mince meat into balls, and especially went to Asian grocery to get century egg and yew char kuay (fried dough)
*slurp* really warmed us up real nice
mmmmmmm.. I like it like that too! but can’t get the yew cha kway here, I can’t find any near me! 🙁
hi, sorry to crash but your congee looks fantastic!! yummilicious!
Thanks, I was quite surprised it turned out, haha!
The porridge looks so good!! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
It was thick and creamy and soooo nice for winter 😀
Strangely, I wanted to eat some congee the other day but I didn’t know how to make it (and I don’t know any Asian folks offline that could teach to me). But this looks good. I’ll have to substitute it with some ground turkey since I’m allergic to beef.
Is the egg you crack into it still raw when you mix it in? I’m not a fan of runny eggs (or eggs in general) :o|
I’d never made it either and didn’t have a recipe.. so I just randomly tried it out. Thank goodness it worked out! 😛
The raw egg in there isn’t necessary.. I just follow some Hong Kong restaurants that do that with their congee – the egg cooks in there as you stir it and it makes it sweet and creamy :)~
Mm I’m gonna try it out, even if it’s summer here right now 😛
Do you think I could use cooked rice and make congee with it? I have tons leftovers and it’s kinda dry so I wanna use it up somehow.
I doubt it 🙁 It’s because the rice needs to ‘break down’ in the water as it’s being cooked to make it creamy.. otherwise you might just end up with rice and water 😛 I dunno, it’s worth trying if you have so much leftover tho!
use cooked rice to create fried rice…it fries very well for exactly that reason!
Beverly’s congee just looked so delicious hehe… but good point!
Hehe I know!!!!! Bev, can I be your unofficial roommate? 😀
Haha… yes, if we can share clothes and accessories! 😉
let me lose 10kg first…i wouldn’t be able to fit into your little outfits otherwise!! 😛
yummy love mushrooms…
I HAVE to have mushrooms with most of my cooked veggies.. or it ain’t worth eating otherwise 😉
it really does look very healthy and yet tempting.. hehe. 🙂
I LOVE the fact that it’s healthy and easy to prepare.. I’m all for easy cheap recipes 😉
just the thing I’m planning to make tomorrow. made a bowl today and only had a quarter before I gave up eating, ouchie poo.
Cool! Hope it works out for you too 🙂
Thanks for that…You know I have tried that three or four times and the consistancy was never right. It was either too liquidy with wierdy shaped rice yuk floating in it or one giant gooey mass – I am going to try this very soon. And the meat balls sound really tasty to add too. Yum. cant wait even tho in the US we are heading into summer… Its never a bad time for a warm bowl of something like this. or noodles.. well, i think so anyway…
have you seen the things ive been making with beads and buttons in my LJ lately? Got a new hobby 🙂 well, yet another one 🙂
i just stir in more hot water as I go, and stir it all the time so it’s really creamy… the meat balls add flavour to the congee when you cook it together :)~
Heh yes, you’re really creative! I tried my hand at doing it a few months back but I can’t be bothered doing more.. too much of a hassle for me, I’m lazy 😛
lol… its kind of ‘fiddly’ i guess…never thought working with two pliers would make sense…but im really liking it 🙂 its nice to accomplish something pretty, i guess
this is so funny…my flatties and I were craving for something porridge as well, so I made porridge, those kind you get from Crystal Jade back home. Just rolled mince meat into balls, and especially went to Asian grocery to get century egg and yew char kuay (fried dough)
*slurp* really warmed us up real nice
mmmmmmm.. I like it like that too! but can’t get the yew cha kway here, I can’t find any near me! 🙁
The porridge looks so good!! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
It was thick and creamy and soooo nice for winter 😀
Strangely, I wanted to eat some congee the other day but I didn’t know how to make it (and I don’t know any Asian folks offline that could teach to me). But this looks good. I’ll have to substitute it with some ground turkey since I’m allergic to beef.
Is the egg you crack into it still raw when you mix it in? I’m not a fan of runny eggs (or eggs in general) :o|
I’d never made it either and didn’t have a recipe.. so I just randomly tried it out. Thank goodness it worked out! 😛
The raw egg in there isn’t necessary.. I just follow some Hong Kong restaurants that do that with their congee – the egg cooks in there as you stir it and it makes it sweet and creamy :)~