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!

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
1 user found this review helpful

Reviewer:

Matthew Perrett

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Pacifica, California, USA

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.

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
2 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

Sarah

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Springfield, Missouri, USA

Living In: Dover, New Hampshire, USA

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.

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
1 user found this review helpful

Reviewer:

newmommy

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Plainfield, Indiana, USA

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.

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
12 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

chumtram

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.

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
24 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

ljoli3

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.

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
5 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

Susan Stone

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Cranford, New Jersey, USA

Living In: El Paso, Texas, USA

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.

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
4 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

ink

Cooking Level: Beginning

Reviewed: Oct. 12, 2006

Very tasty. Maybe I had a big chicken, but it coulda used more rice for all the water I had.

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
1 user found this review helpful

Reviewer:

CHAOTICA

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: New York, New York, USA

Living In: San Francisco, California, USA

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!

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
4 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

TUATHAAN75

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.

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
3 users found this review helpful