Chinese Breakfast Porridge Can Adapt to Any Meal

Turkey sandwiches, turkey soup, turkey hash…how about some turkey jook to liven up those Thanksgiving leftovers? Okay, you probably never heard of jook—it’s a Chinese rice-based porridge, often eaten for breakfast but delicious and healthful at any time of day. Somewhat like a Chinese version of risotto, jook is tasty, simple to make and easy to digest…and it will clear your refrigerator of all that turkey. Also known as congee, jook adapts to a wide range of added foods—protein in the form of yes, turkey, but also fish, meat or eggs, vegetables, sauces, herbs and spices can make it into a very substantial and nutritious lunch or dinner. It’s possible even to make a dessert jook with honey and raisins or other yummy treats.

I heard about jook from Honora Lee Wolfe, acupuncturist, massage therapist and author of a number of books concerning Chinese Medicine practices. She is co-director of the Blue Poppy Press with her husband, acupuncturist Bob Flaws, author of The Book of Jook; Chinese Medicinal Porridges, a Healthy Alternative to the Typical Western Breakfast. The couple has spent a great deal of time in China and it was there that they first ate jook. Wolfe says that in southern China the streets are filled with closet-sized jook stands and shops. She was surprised at how satisfied and energized she felt for as long as five or six hours after eating a breakfast bowl of jook. In the shops you can select from a wide variety of foods and condiments to be placed in the bottom of the bowl, perhaps ginger, raw fish, green onions and raw egg, all of which the hot jook then covers and cooks. The Chinese also like to add herbs—cilantro is a favorite for flavor, while a variety of healing herbs can also be tossed in to improve energy or address digestive or sleep problems. Wolfe adds that the most popular added ingredients are those that promote longevity, such as astragalus, goji berries, red dates and ginseng and many others.

To understand the purpose and popularity of jook, it helps to know a little about China’s approach to food in general. The Chinese believe in eating cooked foods. Cooking, they say, partially breaks down food, making it easier for the body to digest and to absorb its nutrients. Plain jook—porridge of just rice and water—is fed as the first food to infants and is given to the frail elderly, people with digestive issues, and those who are ill or who need to rebuild their health after, say, surgery. The fact that it is so easy to digest makes jook an ideal vehicle for delivering medicinal herbs to patients—unlike we Westerners, with our tendency to run to the drugstore when we don’t feel well, the Chinese look first to herbs and botanical medicines to address illness.

JOOK RECIPES…WITH TURKEY AND MORE

Jook is extremely easy to make. Mix one cup of rice (any kind will do, but brown rice is healthiest) with eight cups of water and allow the mixture to cook for seven or eight hours in a crock pot or slow cooker. (Speedier recipes for preparing jook are available on the Web at www.homemade-chinese-soups.com.) Wolfe says she cooks the couple’s breakfast jook overnight, in the morning adding a bit of grated raw ginger, cooked meat, carrots and a raw egg, along with soy sauce and butter. For more substantive forms for lunch or dinner jook, Wolfe mixes in chopped Swiss chard, spinach or other flavorful greens, squash cubes, fish or meat and often other vegetables or leftovers as well.

Turkey-based jook starts with the carcass—Wolfe suggests making a stock with the bones. Use the stock in place of water to mix with the rice and when the jook porridge is ready, add cooked turkey and a variety of vegetables. Before serving, season with salt and pepper, soy sauce, and/or sesame oil and serve with condiments such as green onions, raw peanuts or cashews, and shredded lettuce. Thickness can be adjusted based on the amount of water used.

FRESH ENERGY FROM JOOK

Jook is not meant to be made ahead and frozen for later use. The reason has to do with yet more Chinese philosophy concerning food. In addition to eating primarily cooked foods, the Chinese also emphasize food that is freshly prepared. (Ever notice how Chinese take-out is always cooked to order?) They believe that food, like people, has chi (energy) and if you let it sit around, including in the freezer, the chi fades and with it the nutrients.

Fortunately, jook isn’t a challenge to prepare. People make it daily in many Asian countries and you can even find jook in American Chinese restaurants. Ordering it is not always so easy, however—Wolfe says you may have to ask for it, since jook may not be included on English menus.