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Prep time
4 hours
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Cook time
1 hour 30 minutes
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Serves
4 to 6
Author Notes
This recipe is excerpted from "Made in Taiwan," the January 2025 Book of the Month in the Food52 Baking Club. Follow us @f52cookbookclub.
For most of Taiwan’s modern history, breakfast revolved around rice. Morning
provisions consisted of plain congee and a collection of simple sides, like pickled bamboo shoots, pork floss, peanuts, and perhaps a boiled sweet potato or two when rice was scarce. This recipe is a rather luxurious take on congee, dotted with shiitake mushrooms, thin slivers of pork tenderloin, and dried shrimp. While there are a couple of breakfast specialists across the island who sell this in the early mornings, it’s actually much more commonly made at home. A thick grain porridge, after all, is a universally cheap and quick way to feed a family. Cook it low and slow over the stove, or, if you have an electric steamer or rice cooker, just pop all the ingredients in, press a button, and let time work its magic. — Clarissa Wei & Ivy Chen —Food52
Test Kitchen Notes
Excerpted from MADE IN TAIWAN: Recipes and Stories from the Island Nation. Copyright @ 2023 by Clarissa Wei. Photography Copyright © 2023 by Yen Wei and Ryan Chen. Reproduced by permission of Simon Element, and imprint of Simon & Schuster. All rights reserved. —The Editors
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Ingredients
- Bone Broth
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4 pounds
(2kg) chopped pork bones with meat on them, cut into 2-inch (5-cm) pieces
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1
yellow onion, peeled and cut in half
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2 tablespoons
Taiwanese rice wine (michiu) or cooking sake
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1
1-inch piece fresh ginger (10 g), unpeeled and sliced
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2
scallions, tied in a knot
- Shiitake and Pork Congee
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5
medium dried shiitake mushrooms
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1 tablespoon
small dried shrimp
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1 cup
(200 g) short-grain rice, also known as sushi rice
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8 cups
(2 L) Bone Broth or low-sodium chicken stock
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3/4 pound
(340 g) pork tenderloin, cut into matchsticks
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2 tablespoons
soy sauce
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1 tablespoon
toasted sesame oil, plus more to taste
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2 teaspoons
Taiwanese rice wine (michiu) or cooking sake
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3 tablespoons
canola or soybean oil
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2 teaspoons
fine sea salt
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1/2 teaspoon
ground white pepper
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1/2 cup
(80 g) minced celery (for garnish)
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1/2 cup
(40 g) fried shallots (store-bought or homemade) (for garnish)
Directions
- Bone Broth
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In a large pot set over high heat, add the pork bones and enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and briskly simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat. Drain in a colander set in the sink, and rinse quickly under running water to get rid of the excess scum.
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In a large pot, bring 12 cups (2.8 L) water to a rolling boil over high heat. Add the pork bones, onion, rice wine, ginger, and scallions. Bring to a boil again, then reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Slowly simmer, uncovered, about 3 hours. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve into a large pot. You should have 8 to 9 cups (2 L) of liquid left.
- Shiitake and Pork Congee
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In a medium bowl, add the dried shiitake mushrooms, cover with water, and soak until soft, about 1 hour. If you are in a rush, soak them in boiling water for 30 minutes (though they won’t be nearly as flavorful). In a small bowl, submerge the dried shrimp in water for 10 minutes. Drain the dried shrimp in a fine-mesh sieve. Remove the shiitake mushrooms from the bowl and squeeze out any excess water. Trim the stems and discard. Thinly slice the caps and set aside.
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Put the rice in a fine-mesh sieve, and rinse it under running water for a couple of seconds. Don’t over-wash it; we want to keep as much of its starch as possible. This will help thicken the congee.
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In a large stockpot over high heat, combine the washed rice and the bone broth, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer with the lid slightly ajar. Cook, stirring often so the grains don’t stick to the bottom of the pot, until the congee is thick and creamy and the rice grains swell, 25 to 40 minutes. If you’d like it a little bit thicker, simmer for an additional 20 minutes.
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In a small bowl, combine the pork tenderloin, soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice wine, and marinate for 15 minutes.
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In a wok, heat the canola or soybean oil over medium-high. When the oil is hot and shimmering, toss in the sliced shiitakes and shrimp, and cook, stirring, until it smells lovely, about 40 seconds. Add in the marinated pork tenderloin, and cook, stirring, until no longer pink,
about 1 minute. Turn off the heat and set the wok aside.
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When the congee is sufficiently thick, transfer the cooked shiitakes, shrimp, and pork tenderloin into the congee pot, and give it one big stir. Set the pot over low heat, and simmer everything together for an additional 5 minutes.
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Turn off the heat, and mix in the salt and white pepper, adding more if you’d like. To serve, ladle some congee in a bowl. Garnish with a pinch of the minced celery and fried shallots, then finish off with a light drizzle of sesame oil.
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