Guo Pei Congee Recipe

 
Last week my mom scared the crap out of me. She called me in the middle of the day last wednesday and asked me to pick her up from work coz she kept throwing up. When I got there, she looked really sick and weak. As I was supporting her to the car, she kept throwing up. I had to take her to the washroom and we stayed there for half an hour. She was feeling really cold but sweating a lot at the same time. She had to sit on the toilet to rest coz she was too weak to stand. Some lady in another stall was throwing up too...o___O I was thinking maybe its the flu! Luckily my sister was here to help and we took her to the emergency. The doctors did some blood test and gave her IV and other liquids. We were there for about 7 hours. After 7 hours of resting on the bed, my mom was feeling a bit better and was discharged. We asked the doctor what was wrong with my mom and they didn't know. It could be the flu or food poisoning. They had no idea!

The next day, my mom was still feeling really weak...so I took the initiative to make her some congee to eat. Whenever I'm not feeling well, my mom would make me plain congee or dried scallop congee. I always ask for salted duck eggs and some shredded dried pork on my congee. I really like that combination. This time I made her guo pei congee like how she taught me.

Guo Pei Congee Recipe

Ingredients:

1 rice cup of Japanese rice

water 

3-4 pieces of guo pei (dried citrus peels) 

salt to taste

1 tbsp oil

green onions for garnish

Optional: Salted duck eggs 

slow cooker

Instructions: 

1. In a small bowl, soak the guo pei with water till hydrated. Scrape off the white insides as much as you can with a small knife. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, put in 1 rice cup of Japanese rice. Wash and rinse under tap water. Drain water, and add 1 tbsp of cooking oil. Mix and set aside.

3. In a large pot, fill it 1/3 or 1/2 of water. Turn the heat on to high. Bring to a boil.

4. Add in rice and gup pei. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to medium. Place lid on the pot but not covering completely. Stir occasionally and cook for 30 - 45 minutes. 

5. Turn off the heat and transfer the congee to a slow cooker. My slow cooker has a inner pot that I used to cook the congee with on the stove. I just placed the pot inside the slow cooker and closed the outer lid to let it continue to slowly cook for about an hour. If you don't have that inner pot or have a slow cooker in general, continue cooking the congee on the stove but turn it down to low and cook till the rice has split in half and the liquid is thicker in consistency. 

*Optional

If you like to add salt ducks to your congee, first fill a small pot half way up with water and bring to a boil. Rinse the eggs under cold tap water and place them in the pot. Let it cook for about 12-15 minutes on medium/high heat. Remove the eggs and let them cool before peeling the shells.