Chao Ga (Chicken Rice Porridge)

By request: chicken rice porridge. I still remember years ago, four of us were playing Cranium. I had to list three comfort foods and our friend MA had to list her three comfort foods. I think I wrote mashed potatoes, mac + cheese, and rice porridge. She wrote chocolate, ice cream and cookies. The goal was to think alike.  It was pretty hilarious how differently we were thinking, but chicken rice porridge is definitely a comfort food. By request, here's my way of making chicken rice porridge.

optional

Chicken stock (makes about 3 quarts)

2.5 pounds chicken bones

2 chicken quarters (drumstick and thigh)

1 onion

half head garlic

1 tablespoon salt

Put all of the ingredients in a big pot and pour enough water so that there's a 1-2 inches above the stuff.  Heat on high until it reaches a boil and then reduce to medium-low to maintain a simmer. You don't have to peel the garlic because the stock is going to be strained anyway. I peeled the dry layers off of the onion. In about 30 minutes, the meat on the chicken quarters should be done. Take out the meat and let it cool.  Peel the meat off of the bones and put the bones back in the pot.  Cook for a minimum of 1.5 hours.  I cooked it for about 3 hours. Strain the broth out and recover any more meat that you see.

The broth, merrily piping along

The finished product!

Rice porridge: (makes a LOT, maybe 24 servings)
3 cups white rice (we use long grain Jasmine rice)
1/4 cup oil
6 cups water
8 cups chicken stock, plus 4 cups reserved
1 teaspoon salt
1 small cabbage head (optional)
4 cups bean sprouts (optional)
2 lemons or limes, sliced (optional)
fish sauce to taste
 
1. Optional: I had a lot of chicken skin so I cooked it in a pot on low heat for 20 minutes.  I used the fat for cooking and Lionel made a crispy chicken skin sandwich.

Looks good though, doesn't it?

2. Heat the pot on medium heat with 1/4 cup of oil and 3 cups rice.  Toast the rice until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Stir occasionally, every few minutes. Towards the end (last 8 minutes or so) reduce to low heat because the rice may burn if the heat is too high.

After 10 minutes, some of the grains are still white and others are browned

After 20 minutes, some of the grains are light brown and others are dark brown, but none are black!

3. Be prepared for dramatic sizzling. Pour 6 cups of water into the pot of rice all at once. Stir. Let it cook for about 10 minutes on medium-low heat. You'll see that it absorbs a lot of water. Add 8 cups of chicken stock. Let it simmer until it reaches a desired consistency. I like it chunky with some broth, so I cook mine for about 20 minutes.  Others like it very watery and will cook it until the rice is broken down into small specks and add extra liquid.  As the porridge cools down it may absorb more liquid, so reserve some broth to add into the pot the next day.

If you didn't make homemade stock, open up some cans of chicken broth and cook some pieces of chicken in it until the meat is cooked.  Shred the chicken meat and use that broth for the porridge.

Yum yum yum

4. Prepare the toppings.  I did this while the porridge was cooking.  Slice the cabbage into fine shreds.  Wash the bean sprouts. You don't have to snip the browned root off of the bean sprouts, but some people do it to make the bean sprouts look nicer.

5. Top with whatever you want. I used chicken, lettuce, bean sprouts, fish sauce, and lemon pepper.