Day After Thanksgiving Tradition: Jook

The day after Thanksgiving has always meant only one thing, a steamy bowl of my father's homemade Chinese jook (also known as congee).

There is no one recipe for jook. Some are served with 1000 year old eggs. Some contain shredded pork. Other recipes calls for sesame oil or a bit of ginger. Anything goes in this very forgiving soup.

This year, after many years of greedily slurping up my bowl without knowing how it was made, I paid attention. I watched my father in action as he stirred up the steamy mixture. I asked questions, filing away the answers because I want to pass down this traditional dish to my children.

As I watched, I discovered a surprising secret ingredient: Simplicity.

Jook as made by my father contains nothing more than broth made from a turkey carcass and a cupful of rice. Sprinkle a little white pepper and a pinch of cilantro into individual bowls and voila, simple jook. What could be more resourceful?

My father makes his jook from memory, never really measuring. When the Thanksgiving turkey has been carved, he simply dumps the carcass into a pot of water, bringing it to boil before simmering for a few hours. Then he removes the carcass, occasionally straining through the mixture to remove any bones and adds about a cup and a half of rice, stirring from time to time. Around midnight, he turns off the stove, covers the pot and lets the mixture sit until morning.

By morning, the jook has thickened into a rice porridge and is ready to be served. We usually have jook for a late breakfast or for lunch. One bowl of jook and I feel sustained and nourished.

This year, our family of 10 polished off the entire pot of jook in one sitting. I usually look forward to reheating jook during the week and its absence on the refrigerator shelf will be felt so next year, I think we'll have to roast two turkeys, just so we'll have enough jook to enjoy all week long.