Dried scallop congee recipe
Servings: 2 people
Equipment
- Deep pot The congee is cooked on high heat to break down the grains, and it can bubble over, so a bigger pot is better to prevent the rice from splashing onto your hand or making a mess.
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Short grain white rice, rinsed and drained You can use 50% long grain rice and 50% short grain rice.
- 1 handful Dried scallops (or 5-6 pieces if you're using whole scallops) Rinsed then rehydrated in warm-hot water for 30-60 minutes. The more dried scallops you use, the less salt you'll need later. If they're in big pieces, shred them once they've softened after soaking.
- 8-10 Cups Water You can use chicken stock if you want, but with enough dried scallops, the congee won't need it.
- 1 Honey date Soak in hot water for 30-60 minutes (You can soak it with the scallops.) Alternative: Jujubes/ red dates or goji berries
- 1 knob Ginger, peeled and sliced You can also shred some of the ginger to use to garnish the seafood porridge later. (If you don't have enough ginger, cut them into smaller pieces so that the flavor is amplified.)
- ½-1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine Substitute: soju, sake or sherry
- ¼-½ teaspoon White Pepper White pepper is very strong, so don't add too much!
- Salt, to taste I add about ¼-½ teaspoon usually but different brands of dried scallops have different salt levels so it will vary for you. Substitute: fish sauce or light soy sauce
- Optional: 6-8 frozen scallops Substitute: frozen prawns or frozen fish fillets (or even minced pork, though that will change the flavour of the scallop congee slightly.) If using fresh seafood, you may want to marinate in shaoxing wine, grated ginger and soy sauce first.
- Sesame oil, to taste
- Chopped spring onions, coriander, shredded ginger etc Optional garnish
Instructions
- Add the rice, dried scallops, water, honey date and ginger to a big pot. (Start with 8 cups of water as you will be adding the scallop soaking water to the pot too- if it's not enough, you can always add more water later.) Bring to the boil, stirring every now and then to prevent the rice from burning at the bottom of the pot.
- Let it boil on high heat, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes. (Don't forget to stir.)
- Reduce to medium-high heat for 30 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent the rice from sticking to the pot. The congee will get thicker- if it becomes too thick, add more water.
- When the rice has broken down enough such that it's at your desired consistency, turn up the fire again and add the frozen scallops. (Add more water if necessary.) Cook till the scallops are cooked through, not forgetting to stir. (you'll be able to cut through the scallops easily using a wooden spatula once cooked.)
- Add the shaoxing wine, white pepper and salt, season to taste then switch off the fire. Drizzle with the sesame oil and sprinkle on the spring onions (or other toppings.)
Notes
Note: add the salt at the end, not the beginning, as the congee will cook down and something that tastes just nice at first may be way too salty later.
If using frozen scallops, you can add them straight into the pot without defrosting.
If you decide to use canned abalone in the porridge, you can add some of the abalone brine to the congee.