Chicken congee is a comforting rice porridge made with jasmine rice and shredded chicken. This recipe is my take on the Chinese dish where chicken thighs are poached in the stock with ginger and scallions first, then the rice simmers in that same stock until the grains break down. It takes about 45 minutes, mostly hands-off, and is topped with jammy eggs, cilantro and chili oil. I hope you love it!
Congee is what you want on a cold, gray day, or when you’re run down and can’t face anything heavy. My version needs just half a cup of jasmine rice for two bowls. I poach the chicken thighs in the stock first and lift them out after 12 minutes, so they don’t keep cooking while the rice simmers for another half hour. It's one of my favorite breakfast I've made recently, so I hope you love it!
For more cozy bowls, have a look at my soup recipes from around the world, my harissa rice bowl, or try this easy 10-minute noodle soup.
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What is chicken congee?
Congee is rice cooked in plenty of water or stock until the grains break down into a porridge. It’s eaten all over Asia under different names: jook in Cantonese, zhou in Mandarin, cháo in Vietnamese, juk in Korean and okayu in Japanese. In Vietnam, chicken congee is cháo gà, and in the Philippines, the chicken and ginger version is arroz caldo.
It’s a common breakfast in many parts of Asia and a go-to when you’re feeling unwell. This version keeps the pot simple, with just ginger and scallions in the stock, and saves the soy sauce, sesame oil, chili oil and jammy egg for the end, so each bowl can be finished how you like it.
Ingredients for chicken congee
The ingredient list is short for this recipe, so here’s what each one is bringing to the dish:
- Thai jasmine rice. A fragrant long-grain rice that softens and breaks down over 30 minutes of simmering. Half a cup is all you need for two bowls. Give it a rinse before it goes into the pan.
- Chicken stock. It does two jobs here: first it poaches the chicken, then the rice cooks in it.
- Boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Thighs have a little more fat than breast, so they stay tender after poaching and pull apart easily with two forks.
- Ginger and scallions. These flavor the stock while the chicken poaches. You’ll also need two more scallions, sliced, for the top.
- Light soy sauce. This adds a final bit of seasoning to our bowl.
- Chili oil. Use your favorite jar, or make my Vietnamese-inspired chili oil with lemongrass.
- Sesame oil, sesame seeds and cilantro. These finish the bowls. I used black sesame seeds in the photos, but white ones are fine.
For the full ingredient list with measurements, scroll down to the recipe card below.
How to make chicken congee
Step 1. Poach the chicken with ginger and scallions
Put the sliced ginger, scallion pieces, chicken stock and chicken thighs in a saucepan. Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 12 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
Step 2. Lift out the chicken and scallions
Use tongs to move the chicken onto a plate, then fish out the scallion pieces and discard them. Leave the ginger in the pan. It stays in the stock while the rice cooks and comes out at the end.
Step 3. Add the rice to the stock
Rinse the jasmine rice, then tip it into the pan of stock. Set the lid loosely on top and simmer for 30 minutes.
Step 4. Shred the chicken
While the rice simmers, and once the chicken is cool enough to handle, pull it apart into bite-size shreds with two forks.
Step 5. Make the jammy eggs
When the rice is nearly ready, lower room-temperature eggs into a pan of boiling water and simmer for 6 minutes. Move them straight into a bowl of cold water, then peel them once they’re cool enough to handle.
Step 6. Whisk the rice into congee
After 30 minutes, the rice should be very soft and overcooked. Take out the ginger slices, then whisk until the grains break down and the rice turns into a thick porridge.
Step 7. Stir in the chicken
Add the shredded chicken to the pan and stir until it’s mixed evenly through the congee. Everything is already cooked, so this is just about letting the chicken warm through.
Step 8. Divide and add the toppings
Ladle the congee into two bowls. Halve the eggs and put one egg on each bowl, then top with the cilantro, sliced scallions, light soy sauce, sesame oil, chili oil and sesame seeds. Enjoy!!
Substitutions and variations
- Chicken breast. Boneless, skinless breast works if that’s what you have. Poach it the same way, checking it’s cooked through before you lift it out.
- Leftover or rotisserie chicken. Skip the poaching, cook the rice in the stock with the ginger and scallions, and stir in shredded cooked chicken at the end. My leftover chicken recipes from around the world have more ways to use it up.
- Marinated eggs. Swap the jammy eggs for my miso-marinated eggs. They use the same 6-minute boil, then sit in the fridge for at least 6 hours.
- No chili oil. Any chili crisp or chili sauce you like will do, and my guide to substitutes for chili oil has more ideas.
- Gluten free. Use tamari instead of light soy sauce, and check the labels on your stock and chili oil.
- Veggie: sub out the chicken stock for vegetable stock. Swap the chicken for sliced mushrooms.
Tips for the best chicken congee
- Pick a stock you’d happily drink. A flat stock means a flat congee. Taste a spoonful before you add the soy sauce and chili oil, which bring the salt and heat.
- Cut the ginger into discs. The ginger stays in for the full 30 minutes of simmering, so slice it into discs rather than mincing it. That way you can pick out every piece before you whisk.
- Get the eggs out of the fridge early. The 6-minute timing is for room-temperature eggs, and cold eggs won’t cook the same way in that time. Take them out when you start the chicken.
- Use a whisk, not a spoon. Whisking the overcooked rice breaks the grains down far more easily than stirring, and that’s what turns rice sitting in stock into a thick, spoonable porridge.
- Serve it straight away. Congee keeps thickening as it sits off the heat, so have the toppings chopped before you whisk the rice and get it into bowls as soon as the chicken is stirred through.
What to serve with chicken congee
With shredded chicken and a jammy egg in every bowl, chicken congee is a full meal on its own. For extra toppings, crispy fried shallots, kimchi or more chili crisp all work well, and my roundup of soup toppings has plenty more ideas.
Congee is also a dim sum classic, so it sits well alongside steamed dumplings like har gow (shrimp dumplings) or chicken siu mai. In China, it’s often eaten with youtiao, long strips of fried dough for dipping. For something easier to make at home, my cheat scallion buns use a dough made from just two ingredients.
Storage and reheating
Chicken congee keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. It thickens a lot as it cools and can set almost solid, so don’t worry if it looks more like a block than a porridge. To reheat it, put it in a saucepan over medium-low heat with a splash of water or stock and whisk as it warms, adding more liquid until it’s loose again and hot all the way through. Keep the toppings separate and add them fresh, and make new jammy eggs rather than reheating the old ones.
Chicken congee FAQs
Yes, chicken broth works just as well as stock in this recipe. Use the same 4 cups to poach the chicken, then cook the rice in it. If your broth is low-sodium, you’ll probably want a little more soy sauce on top when you serve it.
Thai jasmine rice, a fragrant long-grain rice that breaks down well after 30 minutes of simmering. Other white rice also works, though cooking times can vary, so check that the grains are very soft and starting to fall apart before you whisk.
This recipe uses ½ cup of rice to 4 cups of stock, a 1:8 ratio that gives a thick congee you eat with a spoon. Ratios vary a lot between recipes and regions. If you like yours thinner and more soupy, whisk in more hot stock or water at the end.
Yes. The heat in this recipe comes from the chili oil on top, so the easiest way to make it spicier is to add more. You can also stir a spoonful through the congee before you ladle it out, or scatter sliced fresh chilies over with the scallions.
More Asian-inspired chicken recipes
- Steamed Chicken and Shiitake Bowl: chicken thighs and shiitake steamed with lemongrass, garlic and ginger, served with a spicy cilantro sauce.
- Honey Ginger Chicken: pan-fried chicken thighs in a light soy, honey, garlic and ginger sauce, ready in 20 minutes.
- Scallion Chicken: chicken thighs in a soy, garlic, ginger and scallion sauce, made in about 20 minutes and served with rice.
- Korean-Style Chicken Stew: a moderately spicy chicken stew with kimchi and gochujang, served over mashed potato.
If you tried this chicken congee or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thank you!
Chicken Congee
Ingredients
For the congee
- 1 inch ginger, sliced into discs (2.5 cm)
- 2 scallions cut into thirds
- 4 cups chicken stock (960 ml)
- 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
- ½ cup Thai jasmine rice (about 95g)
For the jammy eggs
- 2 eggs at room temperature
To serve
- 2 scallions sliced
- Cilantro roughly chopped
- 2 teaspoon light soy sauce (10 ml)
- 2 teaspoon sesame oil (10 ml)
- 1 tablespoon chili oil (15 ml)
- 2 teaspoon sesame seeds
Instructions
- Put the ginger, scallion pieces, chicken stock and chicken thighs in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 12 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
- Lift the chicken out onto a plate and remove the scallion pieces. Leave the ginger in the pan.
- Rinse the rice, then add it to the stock. Place the lid loosely on the pan and simmer for 30 minutes.
- While the rice cooks, shred the chicken once it’s cool enough to handle.
- When the rice is nearly ready, lower the room-temperature eggs into boiling water and simmer for 6 minutes. Transfer to a bowl of cold water, then peel.
- After 30 minutes, the rice should be very soft and overcooked. Remove the ginger, then whisk until the rice breaks down into a thick porridge.
- Stir in the shredded chicken.
- Divide the congee between 2 bowls. Halve the eggs and top each bowl with one egg, then add the cilantro, sliced scallions, light soy sauce, sesame oil, chili oil and sesame seeds. Enjoy!!
Notes
Nutrition
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