Pork Century Egg Congee

Ingredients (Serves 4 people)

• 200 grams (1 cup) of jasmine rice
• 2-2.5 liter (8-10 cups) of broth or water
• 400 grams (14 oz) of pork loin
• 2 tsp of salt to marinate the pork
• 1 tsp of garlic powder
• 1 egg white
• 1 tbsp of cornstarch
• 4 century eggs, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 tbsp of grated ginger
• White pepper to taste
• Diced scallion as garnish
• Slat to adjust the taste at the end

Instructions

1. Rinse the rice under running water a couple of times. Congee is originally made with leftover rice, but in this recipe, I will make congee directly from uncooked rice.
2. Soak the rice for 10-15 minutes. The soaking will shorten the cooking time. Meanwhile, bring 8-10 cups of broth or water to a boil.
3. Remove the fat and silver skin around the pork loin, then slice the pork loin into 1/4 of an inch thick slaps. Stack the slaps together and thinly julienne the pork
4. Marinade the pork with salt, garlic powder, egg white, and cornstarch. 2 tsp of salt seems like a lot for 14 oz of pork; that is on purpose. When we cook the pork in the rice soup, the soup will dilute the seasoning. If you use the normal amount of salt, the pork will have no flavor.
5. Once the broth or water comes to a boil, drain the rice thoroughly and add to the boiling broth or water. Stir and wait for it to come back to a boil. Then, switch the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.
6. After 15 minutes of simmering, the rice should be cooked through, but it is not creamy. The grains and the broth are separated. Take a whisk and stir the rice for a minute or 2 to break up the rice grains and thicken the soup.
7. Add the century eggs, grated ginger, and marinade pork. Stir to loosen up everything, so they don’t stick together. Once all the pork is changed color. Let it cook for a few more minutes.
8. Taste to adjust the flavor. Sprinkle some scallion as garnish. Serve with Chinese deep fried donut sticks or pickled vegetables.