Binging with Babish: Congee from Mulan 

In defence of Mushu's congee, they were in the middle of a war

of course it tastes bland, cricket was meant to add the flavour

Have you ever made any studio Ghibli foods? I think you’re ready now if you haven’t.

Congee is considered a very simple breakfast bowl. The first bowl would have been enough with just soy sauce and sesame oil.

Does eating this make you as swift as a coursing river? Or perhaps it gives us the force of a great typhoon?

Scallion beard sounds like the name of a one piece character

I'm from China and my family has always made rice porridge without any seasoning. I don't really find it too bland, and it's actually quite refreshing, especially if you chill it before serving.

Do not eat this without seasoning heavily in salt and pepper. Ancient Chinese cooks : *am I a joke to you?*

What a beautiful face, she could easily win Miss Congeeniality

Ah, yes, my favorite scene in Mulan! When Mushu spent 2 hours on bland pouridge, but when Mulan tried it, she bust out her millenium-old pressure cooker and played a game of Pictionary with pouridge.

You forgot to put Cricket in then throw him out Edit: to everyone wondering abt my profile pic, I'll see you in your dreams :)

As a Chinese, I have never seen congee so thick. The congee I've been eating my entire life has been flavorful rice soup. Random side note, lobster congee tastes absolutely awesome.

FAVORITE STAPLE FOOD! Congee is definitely the blandest, least textured food you could eat - my family doesn't even season the porridge. We just eat it like rice water soup lmao. That being said, my mom would always make this (1) when I was sick, because it's easy to digest, (2) alongside umami-bomb side dishes, or (3) when we were low on pantry/fridge stock. I love this bland bowl of nothing just as much as I love my Chinese flavor bombs. Maybe it's a nostalgia thing. Anyway, the fact that you made this recipe video literally made my heart SWELL! Thanks for bringing the iconic egg smiley face to life.

Eating Porridge with Chopsticks? I AM AMAZED

"And it's HAPPY to see you!"

Babish: (heavily seasons his congee) My Chinese grandmas, mothers, grandfathers, and basically every single member of my Chinese family: *i sense a disturbance in the force*

You forgot the cricket bro...

In Thailand there's another variant called jok, it's really delicious and my mom makes the best. It's a dish normally made by poor people in Thailand since rice and fish sauce is extremely cheap, and a small pot of rice can feed a whole family for days, but I always ask her to make some on the weekends. Waking up to a nice hot bowl of jok and porkballs is the best.

Cries because coagulated pigs blood and century eggs are the OG congee ingredients

Everyone: *talking about adding salt and pepper* Me: Did... Did you at least wash the rice off screen?

"delicious sriracha acne" mmmm now do the bugs from lion king ;) you know those bugs looked delicious, don't lie.

As a Chinese person ... you don’t necessarily need to season the congee. You can treat it as a sort of soft fluffy rice soup (so like not seasoning rice) and eat it with some other food

something i recognise from home!!! congee is so underrated omg by the way if you’re ever making this at home and want some suggestions: i recommend adding pork bones or just any kind of meat bones as a way to flavour it, especially if you’re cooking over a long time since after a few hours the meat will fall off the bone and it’s delicious. a more authentically chinese style egg accoutrement would be thousand year egg (it’s not actually a thousand years old, it’s just fermented and preserved and SUPER DELICIOUS it’s salty and amazing and ugh i love it). if you’re one to live dangerously i recommend pig's blood curd (also called pigs blood tofu or asian blood pudding) which is exactly what it sounds like. honestly i don’t like it because it makes me throw up (don’t let my chinese grandparents hear that) but its an acquired taste i guess (like mushrooms). if you want something to sprinkle on top either fried shallots or pork floss, they’re both delicious. if you want something to mop up congee with i recommend youtiao. it’s like a deep fried stick of dough but it’s not a doughnut it’s absolutely amazing. :)

Me , an asian : *sees babish stick chopsticks into bowl* My brain: HE SHALT BE CURSED WITH GHOSTS FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE

You missed!! How could you miss??? He was three feet in front of you..

who remembers having to ration their meat/eggs in breakfast when there's too much rice.

LETS GET DOWN TO BUSINESS

1:50 “...and look at that, your breakfast is smiling at you. And I have to admit... I’m charmed...”

Hazlenut Soup from Rapunzel!😏😏

As a Chinese person, I always find the difference in techniques so interesting. I feel that many non-Chinese chefs, cook Chinese food with either European techniques or by using traditional European spices (such as adding a multitude of spices to build layers of flavour) Although I like seeing the difference in techniques, I feel that using traditional Chinese cooking techniques for Chinese food adds a whole new depth and character to the food.

Let’s get down to business, to defeat... the Huns!!

It’s also eaten when the rice gets old, it revitalizes all that rice for one last hurrah before it gets thrown out for a new fresh batch.

Congee is also something you can make to eat when you're sick! Less salt and pepper (preferably none) of course, but it's something that can fill you up and isn't too overpowering! Usually, it's eaten plain with a little salt, if wanted, but it's really good when you're sick.

Back home, whenever my mom makes Rice Congee (typically for breakfast) we then add whatever garnishings and seasonings we want to our own bowl. Not very traditional of a Chinese family but we've been doing it since I was a kid. I liked to add a healthy amount of soy sauce, chilli oil, cashew nuts and fried shallot (for the amazing crunch, gotta eat it fast though since it soaks up the liquid from the Congee). Meanwhile my dad likes to put in Korean Kimchi.

Banish: *put knife near wrist* Everyone: oh no

I THOUGHT HE ADDED ORANGE JUICE INSTEAD OF CHICKEN STOCK

TIANA'S GUMBO FROM PRINCESS AND THE FROG!

I know you're probably not gonna see this but you need to make an episode in Studio Ghibli recipes

A girl worth fighting for

Legend has it John Von Congee still lives happily, and un-eaten, in Babish's fridge to this day.

Jackie chan singing is one of the greatest things ever. The Chinese dialogue version of Mulan is where to find it

Just some extra tips when making Jook: - You can use a rice cooker with the lid off to make the congee, which can help free up the stove in smaller kitchens or work to keep it hot without overcooking it. - Adding in some strips of a white-fleshed fish or some pork bone can give the base congee a great flavor without overpowering the whole thing. - Use White pepper instead of black pepper so that it doesn't fill the pot with black specks. - A good way to spice up the jook is with hot oil. - When it comes to leftovers, keep the congee separate from the other toppings.

It's not the most believa-bowl face, but it definitely wins for most congee-nial 😎

Use an oblong bowl and give him more of a beard and he could be Congeesus.

Actually u can eat it without seasoning too! My whole family eats it without seasoning and it still tastes good plus its good for people who are sick or people who just wants something light to eat

The second recipe was just arroz caldo, which is a Filipino version of congee

Green tea is another way to add flavour to your congee without adding chicken stock! My grandma always added a cup of genmaicha to our okayu (basically Japanese congee), and it gave it a really nice toasty flavour that goes really well with preserved salmon or sweetfish.

0:22 gave me a heart attack omg

*_I'LL MAKE A..._*

Do a Studio Ghibli episode please!!

I THOUGHT YOU WERE PUTTING ORANGE JUICE IN WITH THE RICE OMG

“But i don’t wanna kick the other kids butt”

Can you make a cheap/college dorm type cooking episode? Some of your recipes are super elaborate or require a lot of equipment/time that many dont have access to

The first one is "if you're lucky wartime congee" the second one is breakfast congee

Everybody here who says that they hate congee has to realize that's like saying you hate plain white bread it's supposed to be paired with other foods

I can honestly confidently say I’ve never seen anyone eat congee with chopsticks

What about the cricket

Fish sauce is always a nice touch to bland congee

He protecc. He attacc. But most importantly, He make delicious snacc.

More polite to leave chopsticks horizontally across bowl When done eating. Atleast that’s what my aunt taught me. Vietnamese background.

The use of long grain rice isn’t ideal actually because they don’t have as much starch as shorter grain rice. Congee is meant to be very stick and starchy.

first time I've ever felt compelled to comment... I feel this entirely misses the point of congee... as others have said it's meant to be on the blander side of the scale, because it's eaten with other food. stock is too strong a flavour (your suggestion to use meat itself is much better - and the most commonly used addition when cooking congee, usually pork ) and ginger salt, pepper and soya sauce is all you need once it's time to serve

My family eats it with pickled mustard stems, it sounds weird but it adds flavour and it adds a crunch too😊

2:10 I'm about to scream when he stabbing the food with his chopsticks.

Why did I think it would be sweet not salty

With both of my parents being Chinese, watching this was really interesting, since I've had my own fair share if Congee as well. And it really shows the difference in concepts between European and Chinese eating(not cooking! We just dump the rice in a pressure cooker as well). Asides from the ingredients (we usually eat it it with fermented bean paste or century eggs) in Europe you have 1 plate for every person, very rarely 2. In China you have a bowl for you Rice or Congee and then there are public bowls for all the other dishes and you just take whatever you like from them. It's also why this bowl of Congee still looked really European to me xD

Sucker for beards; even for my breakfast foods!

Babish: **holds knife to wrist** Me: *S C R E A M I N G* Babish: **cuts off wristband *c r i p p l i n g e m b a r a s s m e n t*

*I'll make some breakfast out of you!!*

Can we get to see Mac n' Cheese Pizza from Parks & Rec?

Congee or “jook” as i call it is one of my favorite meals. My mom makes it during the holiday season with leftover turkey. I like to keep it simple. I just add some soy sauce, sesame oil, green onion, and lots of peanuts! Its a great meal if youre feeling under the weather too

"Do not eat this without seasoning heavily with salt and pepper".... I eat it plain with pickled veggies or soy sauce scrambled eggs

Better eat it while it's warm, or else it'll get all congee-led. ... ... ... I'll see myself out.

THE CHOCOLATE PIE FROM THE HELP

I sure would like to be able to Congee up something like this myself! ... Conjure .... the pun is Conjure.

Bacon doesn't get much bigger? *Laughs in british*

I congee-ven believe that you actually made this dish! I loved Mulan as a kid, and still do! So thank you!!

Mr. I’ll make some breakfast for youuuuuuu

Making a video a day before its released?? Ha that sounds like my life!

I actually really like plain congee. Idk, I just really like the natural taste of rice, as subtle as it is

the porridge looked a little weird (i'm from HK!). the grains should hold some shape, so before cooking, you're supposed to wash the grains and then add a bit of oil and make sure every grain is coated before adding water.

I love kongee! My mom makes it for me when I'm sick and she puts in eggs, mince beef and spring onions. It's super good

the second congee is exactly how we filipinos make ours

This recipe got me through college. I’m struggling financially, but I can always afford rice and water. Might not be traditional, but I add an absurd amount of hot sauce to make up for the blandness.

Still waiting on my Demolition Man Rat-Burger

put on your porridge what you want. you are after all the John Dee of your congee.

I love congee. It’s a good basic dish that you can add all kinds of things to

Ok but can we just appreciate: “A crispy fried garlic chip nose since that’s probably the *smelliest* ingredient”

You have brought your family honour

Up next..........Princess and the Frog Tina's gumbo!

him: plain congee is incredibly bland/ me: eats it every morning

Why does the last bowl remind me of the Pringle’s guy on the Pringle’s can

I hate congee but loved this video. When I had food poisoning I had nothing but plain congee for a month.

Please do the doughnuts from the Simpsons episode"once upon a time in Springfield" season 21 episode 10. They were doughnuts made with fresh ground Cuban sugar and fried in 3 types of animal "tallow". These doughnuts stopped Homer, Lenny, and Carl from transfering to captial city nuclear.

Eddie's Million Dollar Cook-off= The Chicken Volcano

Finally, something my poor kitchen skills can actually make XD

i love plain congee. its very comforting

While not the superior way that my mom makes it, it looks really good. You could’ve used Pí Dàn as the nose though. (Century egg)

I basically grew up on congee from my Asian grandparents so I could literally survive off it 😂 but, In Thailand where I’m from, it’s pronounced gua-dee.

Loved eating this as a child with rousong, scallions, and thousand year old egg. Still a favorite to this day ☺️