Calvin Eng’s congee utilizes every bit of holiday leftovers, from the turkey carcass to cranberry sauce
Congee, or jook, is my comfort food. It’s simple, warm and cozy, and absolutely delicious. This version is also incredibly nostalgic for me, since it became a tradition in my family to make it with the turkey carcass the morning after Thanksgiving. Chinese households don’t like to waste anything!
At its core, congee is just a bowl of broken-down grains of rice. This makes it a perfect blank canvas, since you can really dress it up however you like. For some, congee is all about simplicity — my mom only likes to add a few pieces of squid or slices of fish to it. But I love all the accouterments: at my restaurant,, we top our bowls of ginger congee with a peanut shallot crumble, pork floss, fresh scallions and cilantro, a jammy soy egg, and a yau ja gwai for dunking.
But one of the best things about congee is that you can really experiment with whatever toppings you want. For this Thanksgiving variation, we’re utilizing every bit of leftovers, from the turkey carcass and last scoop of candied yams to scraps of green bean casserole and dregs of cranberry sauce. My biggest tip for achieving congee with a smooth and delicate texture is to freeze your rice. When you take the time to freeze your rice for a few hours it allows the grains to break down before you even start the cooking process. This yields a far superior product and drastically cuts down on the cooking time: I promise that you won’t have to spend hours whisking it constantly . In less than an hour you can have a perfect bowl of congee — and keep the holiday flavors alive all weekend long.
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