Congee Hot Pot

Here’s another take on hotpot/steam boat, cooking the meat in rice congee. Rice congee is basically rice cooked in LOTS of water. I quickly pulsed my congee in the blender to just puree the rice a little when I prepared my Congee for my hotpot. I cooked my congee in some chicken broth to give it more flavor.

Hotpot / steamboat  is one very popular concept  of cooking food in the Asian community. It is most fun when eating hotpot in a group. Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Vietnamese, etc have their versions of hotpot. Names maybe different and ingredients may differ from one country to another but the idea is the same, cooking food in broth. You can practically throw anything you want into the pot and let it cook. Bear in mind that if you’re throwing something raw (meat for instance), thinly slice it so that it will cook quickly. And you do want to make sure all raw food is properly cooked before consuming.

The idea of having a Congee hotpot/steam boat is not originally mine. I’ve had it in Malaysia and it is a different twist from the  the regular broth version. If you’re not familiar with hotpot or steamboat, think fondue. It’s slightly different from those cheese or chocolate fondue, but it’s the same concept as Fondue Bourguignonne; cooking food in oil! =)

I’ve heard that in places like Melting Pot (a chain fondue restaurant) have Court Bouillon (cooking food in broth) just like the Asian hotpot style. They however do not want patrons to drink the flavorful broth from cooking all the food. Hence they don’t give you a ladle or a spoon to deter you from drinking the flavorful soup and burnt your mouth/tongue! I guess it’s all about the liabilities that they do not want to mess with. That is like the best part in Asian hotpot; the broth after all those cooking!! Everyone would have a bowl of the soup eaten with noodles.

 

I prepared a little congee hotpot for the husband and I utilizing my electric fondue pot. We scooped some of the congee with the ingredients we dumped in and eat it in front of the telly. =) This fondue pot I received as a wedding gift is one of my favorite item! I’ve used it in almost all kind of fondue you can think of..cheese, chocolate, Bourguignonne, broth and the most recent; congee!

Have a electric fondue pot? Or a Hotpot / Steamboat kit…try cooking food in congee! Do make sure the congee is a little runny so that it cooks the food better and won’t burnt! =)