Instant Pot Chicken Congee with condiments. Courtesy/KokHeong McNaughton

Recipe by KokHeong McNaughton

KokHeong McNaughton is Asian American, born and raised in Malaysia and became a naturalized US citizen. She has lived in Los Alamos for more than 45 years.

McNaughton is retired, with her immediate family around her and living in the same neighborhood within walking distance from one another. She enjoys gardening and cooking and has been teaching Taiji and Qigong in Los Alamos for many years.

Chicken Congee is the Chinese version of Chicken Soup for the Soul. It is easy to digest and is therefore especially good for anyone recovering from an illness, or just simply gifted to friends as a caring gesture.

“When I visited my family in Malaysia, I found out that the McDonald’s offered Chicken Congee as one of the items in their menu,” McNaughton said. “It is a standard item in DimSum restaurants. People eat this as breakfast, lunch, dinner, or just a mid-afternoon snack. Variation on this theme includes substituting the chicken with pork, or dried fish as the meat.”

Directions:

• 1C rice (any kind would work)
• 8C water
• Boneless chicken breasts of thighs (amount depends on how much meat you want in your porridge)
• Seasoning (salt, pepper, chicken bouillon to taste)
• Put all the ingredients in your instant pot and use the porridge function . Slow release.

To serve:

You can choose any or all of these condiments below:

• Dash of sesame seed oil
• Dash of soy sauce to taste
• Chopped Green Onions
• Pickled radishes, pickled Jalapeños, or any kind of pickles (finely shredded)
• Chinese donuts (available in the frozen food section of Smith’s)
• Fermented tofu cubes (available in the Asian food section of Smith’s)
• Sriracha sauce
• Hot chili sauce
• Salted Duck Eggs
• Thousand Year old Eggs