Recipe: Mum's Pei Dan Chok (Century Egg Congee)

Picture coming up!

It's past midnight and I just got home from work. It's been an eventful and long day, and the week's only begun! So I was very glad to come home to some home-cooked goodness.

Pei dan chok is commonly found on dim sum menus in London. In Singapore, it is also something mummies make for children when they are sick, or for weekend breakfasts. It's healthy, yummy, and never tastes the same in restaurants. This recipe is from my mum, who got it from her mum, who got it from...

MUM's CENTURY EGG CONGEE (PEI DAN CHOK) (serves 5)
* All ingredients are easily obtainable in Chinatown

Prepared ingredients:
1.5 cups of jasmine rice (washed and soaked overnight)
2 dried scallops (washed and soaked overnight)
120g dried oysters (washed and soaked overnight)(optional)
- I didn't know where to get dried oysters in London, so I used some dried abalone my mum left in my larder (expensive congee, this was!).

300g pork shoulder
2 century eggs, peeled
1 tbsp oil
1/4 tsp salt

1. Drain the rice. Add oil, salt and half a century egg. Mix well with your hand (wear a disposable glove or a clean plastic bag over your hand). The rice should crumble into tiny grains.
2. Add 12 cups of water, pork, scallops, the water the scallops were soaked in, the oysters (drained), and bring to a boil. Simmer for 3 hours, or if you are a working girl like me, just bunk the whole lot in a slow cooker (indispensable for working girls) and put on an auto setting.
3. When ready, dice the rest of the century egg. Take the pork out, shred (I use two forks to do that), and season with a small dose of light soy and pepper. Return seasoned pork and diced egg to the pot. Season with light soy to taste - go easy on the soy!
4. Optional: Garnish with chopped spring onions and dough fritters (you tiao).

Serve hot.