Sunday I made the Basic Congee with “The Mix” (Pork, Shrimp, Garlic, and Ginger) recipe from J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s The Wok cookbook. I was hesitant going into this section, because I’m just not confident my family is adventurous enough to give the congee recipes a fair taste. We moved forward with the agreement that if my wife gets tired of these dishes, we’ll go on to the next section.

The basic congee recipe is very basic. Just rice and stock, but I was surprised by the proportions: half a cup of rice to six cups of stock! “The Mix” is a general-purpose mixture of ground pork, shrimp, and seasoning.

Preparation couldn’t have been easier. The Mix was the most work, and that was regular prep work. The rice and stock is simmered for about an hour until the rice is very tender and the liquid has thickened. Once it’s ready, The Mix is stirred in until cooked through.

I took a taste of the plain congee and was surprised at how savory it was. I suppose cooking down that much stock really concentrates the flavors. Adding The Mix made it feel heartier (and I'm sure it was heartier), but the savoriness was already there. Megan was not excited about the meal, but ate her bowl and went back for a little more. She also ate some of the flavors, which isn’t the case for dishes she dislikes. My son tried and ate his little bowl; he said it was good. My daughter did not try, saying that looking at it makes her lose her appetite. I thought it was pretty good, certainly better than oatmeal.

I don’t know if I’ll make this one again. It was certainly easy and mixing in leftovers with the basic congee might be a good meal on a cold wintry evening.

I am cooking my way through J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s The Wok cookbook. Read more about it.