Chao Ga - Vietnamese Rice Porridge

Description: My Vietnamese fiancé absolutely loves Chao Ga. He and I edited a version we got to make it easier for our family. It's a thick rice soup. The rice gets soft and it's very comforting when sick. You can use just long grain white rice if you do not have glutinous rice. It's a great way to use leftover chicken, and sometimes I poach an egg on top after the rice has cooked to have more of a comforting feel. Sometimes you need to add more chicken stock to keep it soupy, so I check it a couple times while cooking. You can garnished with a couple of sliced Polygonum leaves, but I don't have them so I skip that part.

Ingredients:

• 6 cups water
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 cup glutinous rice
• 2 cups long grain rice
• 1 -2 cup chicken meat, shredded
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
• 2 -4 eggs, depending on desired servings (optional)
• 2 tablespoons sliced mushrooms (optional)
• 1 teaspoon white pepper (black works also)
• 2 scallions or 2 green onions, sliced thin

Steps:

1. Place rice and glutinous rice in a large pot with water and stock.
2. Bring to boil then lower heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally.
3. Cook until rice is very soft and mixture is thick. Roughly 45-60 minutes.
4. Add fish sauce, sugar, shredded chicken, mushrooms, and poultry seasoning.
5. Stir Gently.
6. If desired, to Poach eggs: add to top of the mixture and cover.
7. Let it simmer an additional 5-10 minutes, or the eggs are cooked to your liking.
8. Spoon porridge into individual serving bowls.
9. Garnish with spring onion.
10. Sprinkle with pepper.