Chao Suon

Ingredients

• 150 g jasmine rice
• 50 g glutinous rice
• 600 g pork ribs, cut into individual ribs
• 2 shallots, halved
• 1 thumb of ginger, sliced
• 2 litres water
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp ground black pepper
• 4 spring onions, thinly sliced
• 1 handful cilantro, chopped
• 2 tbsp fried shallots
• 40 g pork floss (ruoc)
• 2 Chinese fried dough sticks (quay), sliced into 2 cm pieces
• 1 tbsp neutral oil

Before you cook

• Rinse both rices together until the water runs almost clear, then drain them well.
• Spread the drained rice on a tray and leave it to dry for 20 minutes.
• Blitz the dried rice in a spice grinder or blender in short bursts until it is broken down to a coarse flour with a few small fragments left.
• Cut the pork ribs into individual ribs and rinse them.
• Slice the spring onions and chop the cilantro.

Steps

1. Put the ribs in a pot, cover them with cold water and bring it to the boil.
2. Boil for 3 minutes, then drain the ribs and rinse away the scum.
3. Return the ribs to the clean pot with the 2 litres of fresh water, the halved shallots and the sliced ginger.
4. Bring it to a simmer and cook gently for 45 minutes until the meat pulls away from the bone.
5. Lift the ribs out onto a plate and let them cool for 10 minutes.
6. Strain the stock and pour it back into the pot, discarding the shallot and ginger.
7. Pull the meat off the bones and shred it finely with two forks.
8. Bring the strained stock back to a simmer.
9. Whisk the ground rice into 250 ml of cold water in a bowl until there are no lumps.
10. Pour the rice mixture into the simmering stock in a slow stream while whisking constantly.
11. Turn the heat to low and cook for 25 minutes, stirring every few minutes so nothing catches on the base.
12. Stir in the fish sauce, salt and sugar, and add hot water if the congee has thickened past the texture of pouring cream.
13. Add three quarters of the shredded pork and stir it through.
14. Warm the 1 tbsp of oil in a small pan and crisp the sliced fried dough for 1 minute per side.
15. Ladle the congee into four bowls.
16. Top each bowl with the remaining shredded pork, the pork floss and the crisped dough.
17. Scatter over the spring onion, cilantro and fried shallots.
18. Grind or sprinkle the 2 tsp of black pepper generously over the bowls and serve straight away.