Chaozhou Oyster Congee 潮州蠔仔粥

This beauty is a classic Chaozhou dish, simple to prepare and oh so delicious and heartwarming to consume.  For the easeful time and effort put into preparing this dish, the tastiness output is off the charts!  This Chaozhou Oyster Congee 潮州蠔仔粥 consists of a smooth rice congee base to which are added snips of flavorful preserved vegetables, marinated minced meat and, most importantly, plump and luscious baby oysters.  A sprinkle of umami packed dried flounder power and fresh green cilantro finish off the congee to perfection. 

Chinese Basic Congee 粥

What's the Chinese equivalent of "chicken soup"?  Why congee, or 粥, of course, that delectable, nourishing and soothing rice porridge cooked by the Chinese since time began. Recently I've been making a lot of chinese pickles, both the rice vinegar pickle and the soy sauce or hua gua pickle and, duh, suddenly realized that having tons of chinese pickles means congee heaven.

So I've started making congee a lot and it's not only easy and fun to make (you can throw most everything in and make delicious congee)  but also a serious nourishing the soul kind of food as well as being very, very good for babies, kids and persons feeling under the weather.  Did you know that Chinese moms always feed their babies congee?  

Little old chinese ladies used to stop us on the street and in the shops to ask us if we were making pork bones congee for our little girl when she was one or two years old.  And when we replied ashamedly "Umm, no...", those poor ladies always appeared very distressed and anxious.  Ah well, it's better late than never.