Brown Rice Chicken Porridge (Jook)

One of my absolute favorite comfort foods is a Chinese-style rice porridge. There are so many ways you can make it and flavor it - plain served with some pickled cucumber or pork floss, slow cooked with preserved ham and thousand year eggs, made with a rich fish broth... I could go on. The version I end up making most frequently myself is a chicken porridge with brown rice, because rotisserie chickens are a great dinner shortcut and I love to be able to use them as fully as possible.

The brown rice is because I typically don't have white rice on hand at home, but I must say the texture of the brown rice has really grown on me. It won't melt the way white rice does in jook form, but when cooked down you will definitely still get a rich, thick porridge.

I like to make a big vat's worth of this porridge when I know I'm going to be home all day and have time to make my own chicken stock. You can absolutely use any store-bought stock, but it's extra satisfying for me to be able to simmer chicken bones with a healthy portion of ginger and a bunch of green onions in order to really flavor things the way I want.

Brown Rice Chicken Porridge

loosely based on a brown rice porridge recipe from Serious Eats

Ingredients

1 cup brown rice, uncooked and washed

5 cups chicken stock

Salt and white pepper to taste

1 cup shredded chicken

2-3 scallions, chopped 

Instructions

1. Add the brown rice and stock to a pot, bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn the flame down to a simmer and cover the pot. Stir after 15 minutes and make sure rice is not sticking to the pot.

2. Let porridge cook, covered, for another 15 minutes. Stir once again, then cook for another 20-30 minutes (until the porridge begins to thicken to your desired consistency.) 

3. Stir in the shredded chicken and chopped scallions, letting everything warm through. 

4. Season with salt and white pepper to taste.

5. Optional: Serve with soft boiled or poached eggs and/or blanched bok choy if you want to be fancy!

Hope you give it a try! Porridge is such an amazingly comforting yet versatile meal - definitely feel free to experiment and find your favorite flavor combination!