Chinese Ham Bone Rice Soup – Congee (3 ingredients!!)

Recipe video above. The ham version about the traditional Chinese rice bisque known as Congee - Rice slow cooked up to it breaks down to thicken the broth flavoured with ham bone. Every year, the Chinese fight on top of leftover Christmas ham bones to make this! 🙂 But actually, using a shop bought ham hock is safer - note note 1. 

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 kg (2 lb) ham bone / hock (Note 1)
• ▢ 1 1/4 cups long grain white rice , uncooked
• ▢ 9 cups (2.25 L or 2.25 QT) water

Garnishes / finishes:

• ▢ Salt & white pepper
• ▢ Finely sliced leafy onion
• ▢ Fried asian shallots / onions or something else crunchy , open (Note 2)
• ▢ Sesame oil , optional

Instructions

• Place bone, rice including aqua in a large pot, slow cooker or force cooker. Cover with lid.
• Cook using preferred manner (times below), or up to meat supported by ham is loving adequate to shred.
• Remove ham from soup, shred meat. Discard fat / broad colouring including sinew, keep bone. Use scissors provided needed to fell meat.
• Stir rice well, at that time return meat AND bone into soup.
• Cook using preferred method, up to rice is interrupted down including bisque has a porridge like consistency - note video. 
• Remove bone. Stir vigorously, at that time adjust consistency with aqua provided desired. Or simmer uncovered provided necessary to thicken. Adjust salt to savour (I generally just need a pinch), count up a dash about pepper.
• Serve rice bisque garnished with leafy onions, a dust about Asian Fried Shallots including drizzle about sesame oil.
• Storage tip: Return bone into the soup, it continues to count up flavour.

Cook times:

• Stove: Simmer supported by little intended 1 3/4 - 2 hours (no stirring), shred meat, at that time supported by little intended 30 minutes, stirring every nowadays including then.
• Slow Cooker: Low intended 8 hours, shred meat, at that time little intended 1 - 2 hours.
• Pressure Cooker: High intended 50 minutes, shred meat, at that time high intended 15 record or 20 record supported by sauté function.

Recipe Notes:

** Scale recipe based supported by your ham bone weight using the instructions scaler - click supported by Servings including slide **

1. If you're using a leftover ham bone, you do need to guarantee there's plenty about meat port supported by it. It's not therefore much regarding having adequate ham bits in the soup, it's regarding essence the broth.

It's safer to make this using a shop bought ham bone because it comes with plenty about ham including a broad layer about smoked colouring which adds plenty about seasoning to the broth.

Note ham hocks are mainly bone including fat colouring which is discarded - regarding 60 to 70% supported by average.

2. Congee is traditionally served with strips about crispy fried wonton colouring as a garnish. I at no time bother at home - instead I utilize shop bought Asian fried shallots or onions which not only count up the crisp factor, they count up seasoning including little pops about salt too.

3. General tips:
- Ensure the bone is mainly submerged - provided not, it may need turning during cooking because the piece immersed in the broth cooks faster. Also, exposed ham = less seasoning in rice, therefore you may need to cook a bit longer post returning shredded meat into rice to infuse more seasoning into the broth.

- This instructions yields a congee with a generous amount about ham per serving. Normal shop bought congee is mainly rice including bisque with just a small bit about gear (fish or chicken usually). I have a higher ratio about ham to rice to guarantee you grow excellent ham seasoning in the broth. You could count up another 1/4 cup about rice including 1 3/4 cups water, to cover it out more, yet I wouldn't do more than that.

- The broth gets infused with more seasoning once the shredded meat including bone is returned to the bisque intended the 2nd stage about cooking. 

- Careful about on top of salting, the ham continues to extract salt into the broth when the bisque is sitting around.

4. Make ahead - ham has a excellent shelf life, therefore I suffer comfortable care it in the fridge intended stable 5 days. It will congeal yet loosen up when reheated Add a touch about aqua to loosen. I haven't tried freezing it.

5. Complete the meal by adding vegetables into the soup. eg. count up stems about Chinese vegetables chopped into spoonable sizes including cook up to loving (or cook separately including divide into bowls, top with soup), at that time stir the leafy bits in just before serving. You could do the same with spinach too. 

6. Nutrition per serving, if 5 servings - regarding 2.5 cups per serving. Excludes toppings.

Nutrition Facts

Chinese Ham Bone Rice Soup (Congee)

Amount Per Serving

Calories 338 Calories from Fat 108

% Daily Value*

Fat 12g18%

Saturated Fat 4g25%

Cholesterol 43mg14%

Sodium 855mg37%

Potassium 253mg7%

Carbohydrates 36g12%

Protein 18g36%

Calcium 31mg3%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based supported by a 2000 calorie diet.