Tomato Jook

a warm hug in a bowl for a cool summer evening

Have You Eaten Yet? Here’s a new recipe from my kitchen to yours that I hope you’ll love! For more recipes, you can pre-order my next cookbook, Chinese Enough, or purchase Mooncakes and Milk Bread for all things Chinese Baking!

Hello hello!

I’m back again with yet another tomato recipe because our tomato plants have not slowed down one bit. This recipe for Tomato Jook is unbelievably simple, it just takes a little bit of patience and the will to stand over a steamy pot for a period of time. Depending on where you live, that moment might not be a for a while but I’m hoping for cooler temperatures in your future.

One of the best parts about living in my corner of the Bay Area is that it is nearly always jook weather, which happens to coincide with sweater weather. A thick layer of fog lingered over us for a while the other week and I immediately got the urge to light all our candles, bake some pumpkin bread, and make jook, which is how this somewhat summery jook was born.

Jook or you might know it as congee in Mandarin, is a humble savory rice porridge. It is one of the first things I learned how to cook when I moved away from home. I would call my mom and ask her to walk me through the recipe and then continue catching her up on my life while I stirred the pot for an hour. Jook is simply rice and a lot of water (stock if you’re fancy), my ideal ratio of rice to water is 1:10. Beyond that you can add endless ingredients and toppings and take your jook in any direction.

In the Fall I love to make a sweet potato jook and during LNY I’ll indulge in a extra special scallop jook loaded with both fresh and dried scallops (the recipe is in Chinese Enough!). This summery jook tastes a lot like my mom’s Tomato Egg Drop Soup, but if you slowly stirred in creamy rice. The tomato jook is bright and slightly acidic from the tomatoes with a gentle heat from ginger and white pepper. A little bit of fish sauce adds an extra hit of salt and funky fishy flavor, but if fish sauce isn’t your thing you can add a spoonful of chicken or vegetable bouillon instead to amp up the tomato flavor.

As far as toppings go, I must have crispy fried shallots and pork floss. The fried shallots are like tiny onions rings and provide textural contrast (my mom often uses French’s Crispy Fried Onions if you’re not making them yourself) and the pork floss almost melts into the jook and lends a really nice porky sweetness. For some protein, a jammy or poached egg or two is welcomed addition. I made this for my parents (they are here visiting from Cleveland!) the other night and we seared off some pork chops and sliced them up as a topping too. Jook is so flexible, you can always make it your own and I hope this tomato jook recipe is great starting point for a wonderfully cozy meal!

Have a great week! I’m about to kick off a dim sum eating marathon through The Bay with my parents 🧡

Tomato Jook

serves 4

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1 1/4 lb tomatoes, cut into large chunks

2” piece of ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks

10 cups water, plus more if needed

1 cup uncooked jasmine rice

2 tbsp fish sauce

2 tsp coarse salt

1 tsp white pepper, more per taste

toppings:

poached or jammy eggs

crispy fried shallots

thinly sliced green onions

pork floss

chili oil or favorite hot sauce 

1. In a large pot, combine tomatoes, ginger and water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat  and pour in the rice while continuously stirring the pot. Reduce the heat to medium-low to maintain a gentle simmer. Continue to stir and simmer for the first 5 minutes to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Continue to simmer (uncovered) and stir the pot for about 30 seconds every 10 minutes, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pot, until the jook thickens and the grains of rice break down. As the jook thickens you may need to reduce the temperature slightly to prevent the jook from bubbling too rapidly. About 1 hour later, your jook should be thick and creamy. Add another cup of water if you want to either continue cooking the jook or if you want it less thick.

2. Stir in the fish sauce, salt, and white pepper and adjust per your own taste. Divide the jook into bowls and top with your favorite toppings!