When sick, have chook

The Boy is down with a cold / flu right now and he rang me at work today asking for "chook" for tonight's dinner.

"Chook" is a savory rice porridge that I grew up on or what the Hong Kong people called "Congee". There are numerous different varieties of chook from plain rice with salt and pepper to taste to with meat, fish, vegetables, etc.

I make mine with brown rice, chicken stock, a piece of chicken thigh, egg and some frozen mixed vegetables.

It's a really simple dish to make and I don't really follow much of a recipe. Mostly, I just throw things in, boil until the rice is ready and serve, but here's what I did last night:

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup of brown rice, washed
• 1 piece chicken thigh cut in small bite size pieces
• 1 cup of frozen peas (or mixed frozen vegetables)
• 2 eggs
• Handfull of sliced shallots
• 1 litre chicken stock
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

• Bring chicken stock to boil
• Put in rice and chicken thigh pieces and bring to boil again. Simmer for about 20 minutes
• After 20 minutes, when rice is almost done, put in frozen peas and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes
• Crack the two eggs into a small bowl and break the yolk (but do not whisk or mix the eggs) and pour into boiling chook
• Stir / swirl the eggs around so that it creates little while egg ribbons in the liquid
• Add shallots
• Continue to simmer for another 10 minutes
• Check that rice is done (this may take a while as brown rice takes longer to cook that white rice)
• When done, add salt and pepper to taste
• Serve

This is The Boy's go-to dish when he's feeling poorly. He says that it makes him feel warm and comforted and like he's going to get better quickly. It's a favorite in our house whenever one of us is not feeling too well.

I usually prefer mixed (peas, carrots, corn) frozen vegetables rather than just frozen peas, but that was all I had in the freezer last night.

Even if you're not feeling poorly, this is a rather yummy dish to have, especially on a cold day and you want something warm for your tummy.

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