Smoky Wok

Congee with pork and preserved eggs is a perennial classic Chinese comfort food that I will never tire of. However, do note that preserved eggs are an acquired taste as well and most Western palates might not be used to it at first, these are preserved duck eggs that are black in colour with an almost greenish looking yolk and are sold cooked. The texture of the white is almost jelly-like and the greenish yolk is a little My mom and I both love to have these preserved eggs with pickled ginger, very delicious!

Anyways, I woke up extra early today to go to the Asian grocery store and my efforts did not go to waste - I bought some freshly fried Chinese crullers (essentially fried dough) or otherwise known as 'you diao' or 'yao char kwai' (油炸鬼) in Mandarin and Cantonese respectively.



I served my congee with a lot of green onions and cut-up 'yao char kwai' on the side!


There is an interesting tale about the origins of this popular Chinese snack - translated from Cantonese, 'yao char kwai' literally means deep-fried ghosts! There was a very famous and valiant general during the Song Dynasty by the name of Yue Fei (岳飛) and as with a lot of righteous heros, his was a tragic story. His demise was brought about by an evil Chinese court official by the name of Qin Hui who created a plot together with his evil wife and manipulated the weak Chinese emperor into ordering the wrongful execution of General Yue Fei. Hence, legend has it that the evil couple met an oily fate in hell where they were deep-fried as ghosts over and over again to pay for their sins against the legendary General. I still remember my dad telling us this story when we were little and we would giggle while nibbling on the crispy and fragrant cruellers. That is why, he said the Chinese crullers are always sold in pairs, they are essentially two dough strips stuck in the middle.



Well, interesting origins aside, Chinese crullers make the perfect accompaniment to congee. Apart from congee, I also love dipping the crullers into soy milk or red bean dessert soup. Although I did manage to catch some freshly fried crullers, they are of course not as tasty as the ones I'm used to in Malaysia but they do make reasonably acceptable subsitutes!



For more congee recipes on Tastes of Home, please click below:

Spare Ribs Congee Recipe

Chicken Congee Recipe

Ingredients:
1/2 cup rice, soak for 1 hour (smoother texture of congee)
9 cups water
1/2 pound of spare ribs
1/2 pound of lean pork, (I used cubes) - marinate with Chinese rice wine and salt
2 preserved eggs
4 slices fresh ginger
4 stalks green onions, sliced thinly
1 pair of Chinese crullers (optional) - sliced
Ground pepper to taste
Salt to taste (you can use soy if you wish)
Dash of sesame oil



Method:
Boil the soaked rice, water, ginger, spare ribs and lean pork cubes together in a large pot. Once the mixture boils, turn the heat to medium low and boil for about 90 minutes, checking occasionally. After the end of 90 minutes, remove the spare ribs and discard. Shell and rinse off the preserved eggs, cut into sixths and place in pot. Boil over low heat for another 5 minutes. Add the seasoning ingredients to taste and after spooning into serving bowls, sprinkle with the cut green onions and the sliced Chinese crullers.