Name: Congee - Rice Gruel
Ingredients: 1 c Long grain rice; 3 qt Stock [I used chicken stock. S.C.]; 2 tb Minced Chinese preserved turnip; 1 sl Ginger root, minced; 1 Piece tangerine peel, soaked to soften and minced; Salt; Garnish of:; Chopped green onion; Chopped coriander; Slivered preserved ginger; Sliced tea melon

Jacob is about to enter the Promised Land. He will be one of the venerated Patriarchs of the faith. But before Jacob can become Israel, the man must be broken. Jacob needs to learn that his life is to be one of continual striving with God, but doing it with full dependence on God. He will learn that with God there is a continual heat from the refiner’s fire, but through the adversity there is an unspeakable joy in the journey. And though God probably won’t be wrestling with any of us physically like He did with Jacob, there is a continual tension of finding our greatest peace when we are most intimate in close communion with God. At times we struggle, but in the pain we learn to submit to His will, allow Him to expose our defects, yield to the wounds He creates and then trust Him that the pain is for our greatest good as the “old man” is further put to death. If we act in the flesh and run away or defend ourselves or blame others or whine and complain, we’ll never experience this. As creatures so prone to follow our selfish instincts, there is a serenity that comes when God wrestles us to the ground, breaks us further of our pride and reminds us that our sufficiency is only in Him.

Randy Smith

CATEGORY	CUISINE	TAG	YIELD
Grains, Meats	Chinese	Chinese, Rice	6	Servings

INGREDIENTS

1	c	Long grain rice
3	qt	Stock [I used chicken stock. S.C.]
2	tb	Minced Chinese preserved turnip
1	sl	Ginger root, minced
1		Piece tangerine peel, soaked to soften and minced
		Salt
		Garnish of:
		Chopped green onion
		Chopped coriander
		Slivered preserved ginger
		Sliced tea melon

INSTRUCTIONS

In all my years of eating and cooking Chinese food, I'd never tried Congee
(rice gruel) before yesterday. It just seemed so *bland* that I thought it
couldn't possibly be all that interesting. I was WRONG! The recipe below
gives a subtle but hearty "soup" which can be garnished in a virtually
infinite number of ways according to personal taste. I found that I like
just the basic stuff, unembellished the best. I substituted half a cup of
long grain rice and half a cup of glutinous rice for the long grain rice
and it worked very well. The preserved turnip seems to be used mostly for
its salt content. I found it unnecessary to add any more salt to the
congee. The tangerine peel gives a very subtle, nice hint of exotic perfume
to the dish. The pot I made set up almost like a pea soup when it cooled.
Good stuff! Ridiculously easy too...
Congee (Jook)
Combine rice, stock, preserved turnip, ginger and tangerine peel in a large
soup pot and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer, uncovered
approximately 1-1 1/2 hours or until the rice is thoroughly broken up. Stir
occasionally to prevent soup from sticking and add boiling water if
necessary. When done, soup should be thick and creamy. Add salt to taste
and garnish with any or all of the suggested garnishes.
Variations: Just before serving, add cooked chicken, pork, ham or beef. Or
with rice add diced forest mushrooms, soaked to soften or dried shrimp.
From "The Regional Cooking of China" by Margaret Gin and Alfred E. Castle,
101 Productions, San Francisco, 1975.
From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

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