Congeeeee!

 

Original plain congee…so yummy!

This is my congee! It was pretty close to perfect, only a little on the thick side once it had cooled down. I used two thirds short, sticky, northeastern rice (东北大米) and one third glutinous rice. I think I will use little or no glutinous rice next time because I had to keep adding water to it as it was constantly thickening. I served it with a garnish of crushed peanuts and spring onions.

Pickled mustard leaf

I love little Chinese pickle side dishes (小菜). This is pickled mustard leaf which I dressed in soya sauce, chilli and sesame oil. The leaf stalk has a great crunchy texture which goes well with the congee.

They won't serve this tofu in restaurants!

These are two types of very salty tofu side dishes. They are age old traditional fermented tofu! Its made by fungal solid state fermentation of tofu (soybean curd) followed by aging in brine containing salt and alcohol. Needless to say, an acquired taste indeed but the Chinese have loved it as way back as the Wei Dynasty 200AD.  Who are we to question 1800 years of enjoying this bizarre smelling food? The two types have slightly different tastes, neither of which I can describe – have a taste yourself.

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