No matter how you dress it, congee is comfort food
Congee is a humble dish, a way to cope when rice stores were low. Stretch the grain by adding too much water, cook it into a hearty porridge, and throw in bits and pieces of whatever leftovers are on hand.
These simple dishes born of necessity often become our most soul-satisfying: Think chicken noodle soup. When Joanne Chang was a child, her mother made her congee whenever she was ill.
"For me, it's comfort food. It's what made me feel good," said Chang, now chef and co-owner of the Boston restaurant Myers + Chang, adding that her mother "would sit there and feed it to me, and I felt loved. And it was delicious."
Congee is the stuff of home. And like the best recipes for home cooks, it rewards improvisation. Think of
