Congee recipe

Mad Minerva saw my congee crisis post, and sent me the following congee recipe. The sort of disconcerting thing is that they call it "Rice Congee Soup." That sounds so serious and formal--it doesn't have the same cute ring to it as "mixed congee." Plus, I like the canned congee that I get--it has a consistently delicious taste. One time someone made some for me, but it wasn't the same. I guess I'm pedestrian in my congee tastes.

Congee is called "jook," so maybe next time I should use that word when I confound the folks in Chinatown.

MM says, "Here's a recipe that's pretty close to mine (I like to stir-fry some paper-thin slices of ginger -- you can do this easily with a veggie peeler -- in a bit of oil in the pot first, then add the other ingredients. I don't use the random turkey wing, but do use chicken broth --low-sodium canned is OK -- for the liquid). I hear you can do the congee in a Crockpot too!"

9 cups water
1 cup uncooked long-grain rice
2 teaspoons salt
1 fresh turkey wing (about 1 pound)
1 (1/2-inch) piece peeled fresh ginger (about 1/4 ounce)
Chopped green onions (optional)
Minced fresh parsley (optional)
Julienne-cut peeled fresh ginger (optional)
Low-sodium soy sauce (optional)

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large Dutch oven, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and cook 1 1/2 hours or until soup has a creamy consistency, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; keep warm.

Discard ginger piece. Remove turkey from soup; place on a cutting board or work surface. Cool 10 minutes. Remove skin from turkey; discard. Remove meat from bones; discard bones. Chop meat into bite-sized pieces, and stir meat into soup. Divide soup evenly among 6 bowls; garnish with green onions, parsley, julienne-cut ginger, and soy sauce, if desired.

MM continues: "Yup, ladle out the congee and pile on whatever toppings you want! We've done stir-fried veggies of all types, stir-fried meat of all kinds, etc. etc. Even quail eggs and straw mushrooms. Try with braised beef too with shiitake mushrooms. Yum!

"This recipe uses uncooked rice, but my family and I always make congee with whatever white jasmine we have left over from dinner the night before. If you start with cooked rice, you can basically cut the cooking time by about half. A great way to use up leftover rice if you're tired of recycling it by making fried rice (stillI know one restaurant in Taipei that makes 60 kinds of fried rice!)."

Thanks MM! Now can you share some of your brain power with me?