Recipe: Leftover Thanksgiving turkey congee
Thanksgiving is done, but the leftovers are not. Because Thanksgiving is our favorite holiday (and with that comes the love of traditional Thanksgiving food), the hubs and I usually cook enough fowl to feed family, friends, and ourselves for days, even weeks.This year was no exception: we sous vide a turkey and fried two turkeys. We vacuum sealed most of the leftover turkey to make it last as long as possible in the fridge. (You can freeze the turkey leftovers too.)But after so many reruns of the Thanksgiving plate, our palates were bored and craved Asian food. I decided to turn to my post-Thanksgiving tradition of making turkey stock and congee…except I haven’t been able to make it to the grocery store due to two out-of-town events on my calendar right after the holiday. This meant I didn’t have the carrots and celery to make a proper stock, but I did have half an onion, garlic, one bunch of cilantro, and some scallion growing in the garden. These, combined with the fish sauce and rice I always have stocked in my pantry, made for a very proper congee.Congee is a Chinese rice porridge, but every Asian country has its version of rice porridge. In Korea, it’s called jook. I usually cook mine with jasmine rice and fish sauce, making it a Vietnamese chao. But this time, I didn’t have any jasmine rice in the pantry—only sushi rice, which is more commonly found in Japanese and Korean cooking. No matter.Congee was the perfect meal that night: it was chilly outside, and the Thanksgiving holiday and my recent travels, combined with my NMO, had left me exhausted. Growing up, my mama always fed me congee when I was sick, as it is believed in Asian culture that congee has healing properties (it’s the Far East version of chicken noodle soup), and it wasn’t until recent years that I’ve been able to dissociate rice gruel from the negative connotation it had during childhood. From the comforts of our couch, I barked orders at my hubs: “Chop up the onion. How much liquid are you using? I’d add no more than two scoops of rice…” I was acting like the executive chef of our household (albeit self-appointed).The result of our teamwork was one of the tastiest congee I’ve ever had. Maybe it was because we started with very succulent fried turkey. Or perhaps my hubs is just a fantastic cook. But I like to think it was my amazing ability to direct my one-man kitchen team from the sofa. Okay, most likely it was a combination of all these things.I love this recipe because it’s simple, resourceful, and soul-warming. I also found the union of Korean short-grained rice with Vietnamese fish sauce produced a superior congee. (Metaphor of our marriage?) I always prefer fish sauce to soy sauce in my congee because, well, for one, I’m Vietnamese, but moreover, I find fish sauce has a more complex and complementary flavor for congee. As I mentioned before, I used to cook my congee with jasmine rice, but the need for substitution due to a lack of pantry supply actually improved the dish. (Don’t you love it when you stumble upon something by accident in the kitchen only to discover it’s even better than your original intention?) The sushi rice exuded a more pleasurable texture (glutinous yet still chewy, unlike the jasmine rice which so often goes from al dente to mushy in mere minutes). Plus, the purer taste of the sushi rice (vs. The floral flavor of jasmine rice) permitted the umami of the soup to shine.Try this congee recipe if you’ve got more turkey than you know what to do with and if you feel like something other than Thanksgiving sandwiches. Warning: your tongue will ache with umami. If the Blind’s hubs can Cook it, so can you.