Congee with pork belly, century eggs, and crullers (or what I like to call “Jook!”)

Have you ever had Congee before?  I love it!  Reminds me of food my mom and grandma would make for me growing up.  Congee is similar to porridge, so I guess it’s basically a rice porridge.  You can add lots of different flavors to your porridge depending on what you like.  I have always grown up eating congee with usually some sort of pork meat and when we had it, century eggs!  I love love love century eggs!  I know it looks a little daunting and maybe a bit scary if you didn’t grow up eating something like this but I promise you it is yummy.  No, it’s really not a century old, simply put, it’s a preserved egg and a chemical reaction causes it to turn from the normal egg color to this.  Here’s a link to a wiki site to further explain the century egg if you’re interested. The egg is just so good.

I was always a little nervous about posting something like this since not everyone will think this is one of the best things in the world but thanks to Jeannie over at Goddessofscrumptiousness and her photographic depiction of the century egg, it made me feel a little less anxious to post something so “strange!” =)

Anyways, my second favorite part of congee is the crullers!!  We always toast them up and then slice them into pieces to dunk into our congee.  I like to top mine with scallions, fried red onions, and white pepper.  If you like it to have a little kick you could also add in Sriracha. 

This is definitely a meal that I always had when I was sick.  I guess it was my chicken noodle soup for those days that I wasn’t feeling well.  If you ever get a chance to eat or order congee, you should definitely give it a try. 

Egg noodles, Vietnamese cha, and Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, and of course sriracha. 

1st pic: egg noodles before stirring in the sauce — 2nd pic: egg noodles after sauce