I love dim sum. My friend Lisa and I meet up once a week or once every other week for lunch at our favorite dim sum spot. There’s something about dumplings I find very comforting. Pork and Preserved Egg Congee, also known as Jook or Porridge is a common item you’ll find at a lot of dim sum restaurants. I used to love ordering this dish but by the time when I’m done eating, I’m already halfway full which doesn’t leave me a lot of room for other dishes. I now make them at home whenever I have a craving. It’s usually when I’m under the weather or when the weather is gloomy. Neither was the case today, I just felt like having something soothing.
Preserved egg, also known as century egg, or thousand-year-old egg, or pídàn is a Chinese cuisine ingredient made by preserving duck, chicken or quail egg in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, quicklime, and rice hulls for several weeks to several months (source: Wikipedia). The egg yolk has a soft creamy texture, while the egg “white” has more of a rubbery texture. This may sound unappetizing or undesirable but it imparts a great deal of flavor into the dish. This is what the egg looks like.
Source: Wikipedia
Preserved eggs can be purchased at any Chinese market or through Amazon. This dish is usually eaten as a breakfast or brunch food, but I eat it for dinner all the time. 🙂
Ingredients:
- 1/2 pound of ground pork (not lean)
- olive oil
- 1 leek, sliced
- 1 cup of medium-grain rice
- salt to season
- 5-6 cups of water
- 3 preserved eggs, diced
- scallion, finely chopped (optional)
- fresh cilantro, roughly chopped (optional)
- white pepper
Preparation:
In a medium size pot (I used a 3 quart stock pot) over medium high heat, add olive oil and ground pork. Crumble and brown pork. Add leek and sauté them until soft, about 1-2 minutes. Add rice. Lightly sauté the rice until it has absorbed most of the pork juice, about 3-5 minutes. Season with salt. Add water (start with 5 cups and see if you’ll need that last cup at the end if the consistency isn’t to your liking) and continue to stir. Turn the heat down to medium low, cover and let the rice simmer for 40-45 minutes. By then, most of the water will have been absorbed. Stir the porridge and see if the consistency is to your liking. If not, add more water (5 cups was fine for me). Stir in preserved eggs and let it simmer for another 10-15 minutes. At this point, the porridge is ready. Check for seasoning. Add chopped scallions and cilantro, if desired and sprinkle some white pepper.
uni homemaker 
I love century egg congee! Yours looks really tasty!
Thanks Angie!
This looks incredible!
Thanks Marie!
I have never had anything like this before and it looks so delicious!
Thank you! 🙂
I just LOVE congee! And I make mine really thick at home, much like yours. Even the kiddo loves it. I usually make plain pork or beef (I like to add some dried scallops in it) but recently tried the preserved egg. Still have 3 left in the fridge…will need to make another pot soon since you’ve inspired me. I love dim sum, too! Wish we could meet over some tea and dim sum one day. : )
Dried scallops is a great idea in here! I’ll have to try that next time. 🙂 You’re so sweet Monica. Would love to meet for dim sum and tea one day. 🙂 Whenever I go have dim sum, I will think of you! xo
I’ve never had anything like this before. It looks delicious.
Thanks Pam! 🙂
I’ve never had congee before but now I’m super curious. Your pictures look lovely, make everything look yummy!
You’re so sweet, thank you so much Pamela!
I can’t wait to try this, Anne! Never heard of congee before. Now, I can be all educated when I make this for the fam! (=
Thank you Gloria! 🙂 Makes me happy when I hear from you. xo
When I was young my mom used to make a different style of congee, it was much more bland and not as thick. Anne made this and I loved it! It has enough flavor to be interesting, but not too much that you can’t enjoy it when you’re feeling under the weather.
Yay, so glad you enjoyed it!!! 🙂 xoxox
As soon as I saw the photo, I thought of my favorite dim sum! I have to order the porridge first.
My mouth is watering as I’m typing. The century egg looks amazing too. Fresh cilantro on the top… heaven! 😛
Thanks Fae! 🙂
I love congee and this looks so wonderfully tasty and comforting Anne! Now you have me craving jook and dim sum. I haven’t had the century egg congee in a while, wish I had a bowl of this comforting jook now:) Thank you for sharing Anne, this congee looks so good with all the fresh cilantro and scallions – yum!:)
Awwww, so you’re so sweet Kelly, thank you!!! HUGS! 🙂
That dish looks so delicious, Anne! I haven’t had dim sum in ages since I worked in San Francisco. You’re making me miss it!
Thanks Marcie! SF has some fabulous dim sum! I miss it too. 🙂
What an interesting and enticing dish!
Thanks Georgia!
When I first moved to SE Asia, I was so thrown by congee, but once I started sampling it with all the different toppings, I was hooked. It’s the ultimate comfort food – now I crave it. This one looks particularly wonderful, Anne – and those preserved eggs always intrigue me!
Thanks Jess!
This is my ultimate favourite congee. If I see this in a menu anywhere, you can bet I’d order this. I’ve made this at home several times too. So so so so comforting and delicious! Excellent recipe.
Isn’t it comforting?! I love congee! 🙂
Your congee looks so delicious! My boyfriend loves this dish and always gets it at dim sum restaurants. We will try out this recipe for sure–thanks for sharing it!
Thanks Ada!
I’ve never had congee before…this looks so interesting and delicious!!
Thanks Ashley! 🙂
I never knew what congee meant but I’m not sure I could eat preserved eggs!
love congee but never made it at home. My favourite is the seafood kind 😀 Thanks for your recipe. Always wanted to try it at home.
Congee is the breakfast dish of champions in Hong Kong. It is served on every street corner. You either love or hate 1000 year old eggs and I fall in the group of the latter. I like congee when I am sick or feeling under the weather but just minus those scary preserved eggs.
I used to hate preserved eggs when I first had it. It’s probably because of the preparation. When I had it at dim sum, I loved it. But I know what you mean –it’s a love/hate relationship with these eggs. 😉
Love congee. I raised my babies on it.
my grandma’s favourite recipe
I’ve never had congee before, but now I want to try it. Looks delicious!
Thanks Christin!
I love century eggs! As a kid, I used to beg my parents to peel them for me. Only when I got a little older did I realize it was actually kind of unappetizing to most people. Love the recipe 🙂
I love the immortal egg, local name for century egg
especially with savoury porridge with slightly tangy dessing and tons of cilantro….
lovely breakfast supper!
I never had this before Anne! You make me want to try it! Looks delicious and comforting too.
Thanks Reeni! 🙂
we love the comfort of warm salted congees, both the ease of making them and the satisfaction while have them, this particular one looks pretty and the flavors are simply perfect 🙂
You had me at dim sum and congee. Love, love this post!
This just makes me want to curl up on the couch and eat a steamy bowl of congee for breakfast. There’s nothing quite as comforting, to this day! The century eggs bring it all together for me.
And I’m really happy to have found your blog—lovely stuff.
This post is an AWESOME reminder that I haven’t had dim sum in FAR too long! I’e never had congee, but it does sound like the perfect comfort breakfast!
What an interesting dish! I’ve got a cold and I think this would be perfect right now.
Yummy!! I grew up eating congee and love it!! It’s our favorite “comfort” food!! Oh my gosh, this brings back so many sweet memories 🙂
Although I’ve had dim sum on many occasions, I have yet to try congee. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it. It looks lovely.
My kids love congee and I used to make it for them when they were growing up, now they make their own.
I am so tempted to give this a go. I don’t like porridge, generally, but I do love rice so maybe I’d like rice porridge. There is no way I’ll be able to track down the preserved eggs though 😦 Do you have any suggestions as to what other ingredients I could use?
Preserved egg is the main ingredient for this recipe so there’s really no substitution here. But, you can always do a different combination for rice porridge. You can do a mixed seafood one, chicken and abalone (my favorite at restaurants), minced beef, pork liver and kidney. The possibilities are endless. 🙂
Thanks for the like on my site Anne. This congee looks absolutely divine. It was my favorite kind as a kid 😉
Thank you for this recipe! We are actually heading to China early next year, and I’m trying to prepare more traditional foods to get us used to them.
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