Rice Congee or Jok for Pixie

Rice Congee is rice porridge. Eaten in many Asian countries, it can be made with brown or white rice, with just water or with the addition of chicken, fish, beef or other proteins, herbs, sometimes beans or lotus root or ginkgo nuts. As a child my grandfather on my dad's side lived with us. He used to eat plain white rice congee with condiments like pickled mustard greens, salted duck eggs, soy sauce, pickled tofu and century eggs/thousand year old eggs. It's a comfort food. Pixie has had plain white rice congee, I also make her one with vegetables and chicken stock. Congee is Chinese while Jok is Thai. In Lao we call it Khao Peaak, literally "wet rice".

I don't have a real recipe. The basics is a little bit of rice and a lot of water.

3/4 cups rice
9 cups of water- or stock if you prefer

Bring to a boil in a large pot. Turn down to a simmer and partially cover with a lid to let steam escape. Stir occasionally. Cook until the rice has broken down and is thick, about an hour. For Pixie I added the vegetables and if I used it- chicken (usually a breast or thigh) early in the cooking when she was younger. Now she tolerates and prefers more texture in her foods, so I cook the vegetables and chicken for less time.