Our first trip to China was in February 2010. Isaac was a marvelous eater, no matter where we went, but he especially loved congee. We had read about that in the orphanage updates we got about him, and that he liked it with chicken, fish, etc. I had no idea what congee even was, but chalked that up as one of those odd Chinese dishes. Every hotel we stayed in had large pots of it at their breakfast buffet, and every restaurant had it on the menu. Isaac was having serious intestinal issues, so we kept him on a familiar and bland diet. He ate so much of it during our stay in China that I realized that I had better get proficient at whipping up a pot of it so he could eat it here at home also. There was quite a bit about it on the internet and how good it was for "distressed tummies". The recipe? Almost nothing to it - you just continue to boil rice until it reaches a more mushy state. Joshua loves it, too, even though he wouldn't touch it during our trip in 2011. He was so picky, and survived on drinkable yogurt and french fries the entire two weeks.
So, every week I dump two cups of rice into a soup pot and add plenty of water. I bring it to a boil and then continue to just add water until it reaches its desired mushy state. I put a bit of poultry seasoning in it to give it a little chicken flavor. The boys love it plain, with leftover meats, vegetables, scrambled eggs, etc. It's a great way to clean out the refrigerator with those pesky leftovers that no one else will touch!
So, if you have a picky eater at your house, or someone recovering from the intestinal flu............whip up a pot of congee!
