The reviewer gave this recipe 4 stars. This recipe averages a 4.33 star rating.
Reviewed: Jan. 29, 2009
I ran into some problems with this recipe and ended up with two different meals, neither of which was quite right! I'm a health nut and used brown rice instead of white (probably my first mistake,) so even after doubling the rice and cooking it for an hour all I had was a brothy soup and a tiny bit of rice. Then I added more rice (about 1.5 cups) and left it to cook. The new rice soaked up all the water and made it very thick! Both 'recipes' were very good, though, so the second time I'll get it right!
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Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Pacifica, California, USA

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The reviewer gave this recipe 5 stars. This recipe averages a 4.33 star rating.
Reviewed: Oct. 5, 2008
I never use a whole chicken - I have no idea what to do with one - I usually get chicken tenderloins or cut up a chicken breast, and it works fine - it's actually very tasty. I also add vegetable stock, which adds flavor, and if I'm in a really creative mood I add miso. This is a great feel better winter recipe.
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Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Springfield, Missouri, USA
Living In: Dover, New Hampshire, USA

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The reviewer gave this recipe 4 stars. This recipe averages a 4.33 star rating.
Reviewed: Feb. 28, 2008
This was very good! I had to change some things around because I was only making this for me, so I used chicken broth and threw a frozen boneless chicken breast into the pot and added some ginger root, soy sauce, a splash of sesame oil, and I didn't have lemon grass so I used a little lime zest. I cooked it up for about a half hour, then I added the rice and let that cook. I garnished the soup with sliced green onions and cilantro and 1 lime wedge. I agree with other reviews though, it is not the same without the lime juice.
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Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Plainfield, Indiana, USA

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The reviewer gave this recipe 3 stars. This recipe averages a 4.33 star rating.
Reviewed: Nov. 20, 2007
Hey all just a tip on the rice. The way I learned to cook it was to soak the rice first in warm water, that'll help make the soup a little less thick. I like to break the rice in warm water by hand before putting it into the pot so that the rice is smaller and a bit of smoother consistency. Another way to prepare the rice is to slightly brown it in a dry skillet that gives it a little bit more flavor, which is really good. I also cook the broth with a whole onion and carrots which is great when you're sick.
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The reviewer gave this recipe 3 stars. This recipe averages a 4.33 star rating.
Reviewed: Sep. 24, 2007
Chao ga or Vietnamese congee does not usually contain lemongrass, but I guess the addition may help to make the broth more fragrant. Additionally, you may not want to stir the rice very often or at all while cooking as this will often cause scorching at the bottom of the pot. Wait until the rice has cooked for 20 -30 minutes or just right before the you are about to eat to stir up the pot to break the rice grains. The cooking time for the chicken is also quite lengthy. If chicken were left to cook that long the meat would no longer be good. Too mushy and stringy. What my mom and I usually do is to cook the chicken for 30 to 45 mins depending on size, set the chicken aside to cool for a bit then remove the meat. We then return the bones to the pot to continue making the stock. Last but not least, the original preparation of chao contains garishes of cilantro, scallions aka green onions(not chives), and thinly sliced slivers of ginger. If scallions are not available then the next best substitute would be thinly sliced onions.
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The reviewer gave this recipe 5 stars. This recipe averages a 4.33 star rating.
Reviewed: Jun. 2, 2007
I recently encountered congee as a breakfast option on a cruise ship, & fell in love with it. Until I tasted this recipe, I thought it was just plain rice, but one small taste told me I'd found an exact match for the ship's version. I added my favorite toppings: fried bean curd, sauteed mushrooms, sauteed onions, raw snow peas, & enoki mushrooms. Also upped the quantity of rice for a thicker consistency. I just threw everything in the pot at the same time & it came out perfect after about 1.5 hours. Thanks for a wonderful recipe! This one's a keeper.
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Living In: El Paso, Texas, USA

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The reviewer gave this recipe 3 stars. This recipe averages a 4.33 star rating.
Reviewed: Jan. 25, 2007
Perhaps I prepared it wrong, but it wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. I wanted to make some for my sick boyfriend (he had a fever). I was on a time crunch so I used chicken broth and put in chicken breasts to boil (hoping to cut down in time). I added chunks of ginger and lemongrass as stated. I did however, put a bit more rice than it said was needed. This took about 1 hour still. Soup came out salty. I knew that with regular chicken broth, it would be salty - but I had added extra water.. but it was still too salty. Congee came out ok, but not wonderful. You need to cook the rice MORE than 30 min if you want a nice consistency. I took it out at 30 minutes and rice was still not soft enough. It smelled good though. Also (in addition to chicken) boiled chicken liver in a separate small pot (to avoid the frothyness) and set aside in a bowl. Remember to add some squid sauce afterwards too for that extra flavor.
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Cooking Level: Beginning

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The reviewer gave this recipe 4 stars. This recipe averages a 4.33 star rating.
Reviewed: Oct. 12, 2006
Very tasty. Maybe I had a big chicken, but it coulda used more rice for all the water I had.
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Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: New York, New York, USA

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The reviewer gave this recipe 5 stars. This recipe averages a 4.33 star rating.
Reviewed: Sep. 13, 2006
I usually just take all of the ingredients listed above (lime juice if I don't have a lime, onions when I don't have chives) and throw it all together with a bunch of water - sometimes I add carrots and potatos too... very very good. Woot!
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The reviewer gave this recipe 2 stars. This recipe averages a 4.33 star rating.
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Reviewed: May 31, 2006
I was pretty dissapointed with this recipe. I first tried according to directions, but since there were no liquid amounts listed it didn't turn out well. I tried again the next day using a different method; 1/2 cup of rice with 7 cups of water cooked on high in a crock pot for 3 hours. This made the perfect consistency. I added the ginger and lemongrass in the crockpot for the 3 hours as well. But at the end after adding the rest of the herbs and lime, I really didn't enjoy the flavor--and I normally love congee. Too bad--I was really looking forward to this dish.
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The reviewer gave this recipe 4 stars. This recipe averages a 4.33 star rating.
Reviewed: May 20, 2006
This was pretty good.I made some of my own adjustments though. I first sauteed the ginger,lemon grass and some spring onion in sesame oil. I did'nt have time to boil the whole chicken though, so i marinated chicken breasts in soy sauce and rice wine and added it in after the sauteed ginger mixture. Then its the soaked rice and the chicken boullion( no salt cause there already is salt in the soy).I garnished the congee with sesame oil, spring onion and bawang goreng( deep fried small onions) Tip: soak the rice in oil and salt so that the congee has a creamy texture.
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Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Dordrecht, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

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The reviewer gave this recipe 5 stars. This recipe averages a 4.33 star rating.
Reviewed: Mar. 18, 2006
I'm a fool for congee. The first time I heard of rice porridge- or "rice gruel" more specifically, I thought it sounded pretty bland and kind of gross, but then I went and made it and it's WONDERFUL. Maybe I shouldn't be reviewing this recipe because I didn't follow it exactly. How I make it is I put a small handful of rice in my tiny crockpot, put in some water (proportions approximately equal to that of the recipe) and a beef or vegetable bouillion cube (I haven't eaten poultry for the last few months but when I did I'd just put in a raw chicken breast or some ground turkey, with or without added bouillion), a chunk of ginger and lemongrass and let it go overnight. In the morning it tastes wonderful as is or with lime juice and green onions. Oh and it's also good if you just cook it with bouillion and nothing else to flavor it...
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Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Fairbanks, Alaska, USA

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The reviewer gave this recipe 5 stars. This recipe averages a 4.33 star rating.
Reviewed: Mar. 6, 2006
This was very good! I had never used lemon grass before so I took the recipe at its word and chopped the lemon grass pretty finely, not realizing that I would have to strain it out of the broth. Some of the small pieces got through, but they weren't too woody. Next time I'll leave bigger pieces. I didn't have time to do the whole chicken soup thing, so I used canned chicken broth and boiled frozen chicken thighs in it. I also needed to stretch it a bit for an unexpected dinner guest, so I threw in a few potstickers. It worked great! This one goes in the permanent recipe box.
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Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Sequim, Washington, USA

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The reviewer gave this recipe 5 stars. This recipe averages a 4.33 star rating.
Reviewed: Jan. 19, 2006
This is awesome soup. I didn't have all the ingrediens so made some alterations: 2 t ground ginger instead of fresh 1 1/2 t lemon pepper instead of thelemon grass and the pepper. Regular rice instead of jasmine rice and i doubled the rice to 1/4 cup. Had no Cilantro or chives, so used onion and parsley flakes. It's ok w/o the lime but outstanding with it. abt 1 wedge per ladle of soup. wow great stuff. kids weren't neccessarily crazy about it, but husbaand gave it two thumbs up and he's picky.
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The reviewer gave this recipe 5 stars. This recipe averages a 4.33 star rating.
Reviewed: Dec. 7, 2005
Yummmm. This is what my mom would make for me as a child whenever I wasn't feeling well. This is the Vietnamese equivalent of Chicken Noodle Soup. In fact, just recently I came down with Bronchitis. This is what my mom brought over for me…and I’m 33 years old! I'm so glad I came across this recipe!!
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Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Carrollton, Texas, USA
Living In: Frisco, Texas, USA

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The reviewer gave this recipe 5 stars. This recipe averages a 4.33 star rating.
Reviewed: Nov. 8, 2005
soo good. Added just a little fish sauce to enhance the flavoring. Also just used chicken quarters and threw in some frozen wings I had. Great comfort food.
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The reviewer gave this recipe 5 stars. This recipe averages a 4.33 star rating.
Reviewed: Feb. 2, 2005
Wonderful comfort food. Reminds me of what my mother used to make for me, except she used a duck instead of a chicken. Broth will my much richer and the duck fat may be skimmed off and rendered for future use. I love this recipe.
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The reviewer gave this recipe 5 stars. This recipe averages a 4.33 star rating.
Reviewed: Aug. 7, 2004
I tried chicken congee in New York's Chinatown and had to attempt to duplicate it! I used chinese chicken broth from a can, added the lemongrass, ginger and soy, brought it to a boil and added a chopped boiled chicken breast I already had, and the rice. I agree wholeheartedly that the lime at the end is essential to finish the dish. I found that the congee thickened quite a bit once I put it in the fridge and I just added a bit of water when I reheated it to bring it back to the proper consistency. Excellent!
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Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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The reviewer gave this recipe 5 stars. This recipe averages a 4.33 star rating.
Reviewed: Jan. 14, 2004
Excellent recipe. Tastes just like my mom's "chau" (Vietnamese word for congee). I doubled everything in the recipe except for the rice, which I added 2 cups of instead. I didn't add any lime juice. Great comfort food!
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