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How to Make Thai Jok

August 23, 2023 · In: Rice Dishes, Soup, Thai Family

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35 Popular Thai Dishes | thai-foodie.com

Tired of your typical breakfast? Try something new, savory Thai jok, rice congee, with pork dumplings!

Do you love trying new dishes like Thai Jok or miss eating it on the streets of Thailand? Do wish you could make it for your family, but feel intimidated to try making it at home?

Iโ€™ve been there too, but not anymore!

Over a decade ago I fell in love with Thai food, my Thai Hubby, and cooking Thai food, and after learning from my Thai Hubby and Thai grandma-n-law, and cooking for years, I now teach Thai cooking classes at my home every week!

And since you canโ€™t make it to my Thai cooking class in Boone right now, Iโ€™m happy to teach you how to make Thai Jok and answer your questions, just like if you were at my Thai cooking class in my kitchen.

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What is Thai jok (aka congee, or rice porridge)?

In Thailand, Thai rice porridge or congee is called jok, เน‚เธˆเนŠเธ. Thai jok is a savory porridge that sounds super boring, and looks like a bowl of gruel, but tastes out of this world heartwarming. 

Thai jok is one of those reminders to never judge a book by its cover. 

Thai rice congee is cooked jasmine rice broken up, and combined with chicken broth, pork dumplings, a coddled egg, and sprinkled on top of the steaming white goodness are lots of congee toppings like green onions, cilantro, crispy fried garlic and ginger.

Rice congee is often eaten for breakfast in Asian countries, and also given to babies and those who are sick because itโ€™s mild, and easy to digest. Yup, heart-warming chicken noodle soup vibes!

Breakfast Thailand

How to Make Thai Jok | Thai-foodie.com
Thai Jok we had in Thailand

As Iโ€™ve shared in my Thai Omelette recipe, the one thing I missed eating while living in Thailand was American breakfasts like yogurt, granola and strawberries, or waffles with peanut butter and maple syrup. 

In Thailand, at breakfast most people eat whatever they had for dinner the night before. Or Thai Jok, which is one of the few Thai dishes that Thais often eat at breakfast, but they are also open to eating it at any time of the day! 

Love how Thais donโ€™t discriminate when to eat heart-warming Thai food!

What rice is used for making Thai jok?

Broken Jasmine rice is the most popular rice to use for making Thai rice congee, which you can buy from the Asian market. 

But since I canโ€™t find broken jasmine rice typically, I substitute broken jasmine rice by putting cooked jasmine rice in a blender with chicken broth, whizzing it up a few seconds, and making it โ€œbrokenโ€ that way. 

Thai Jok Ingredients:

PORK DUMPLINGS

4 garlic cloves

2 cilantro roots or 3 tbsp. finely chopped cilantro stems

1 tsp. white pepper powder or 1/2 tsp. whole white peppercorns

1 lb. ground pork

1 tbsp. oyster sauce

1 tsp. Thai thin soy sauce

1 tbsp. tapioca starch or cornstarch

Congee

2 c. cooked jasmine rice

6 c. chicken broth

1/2 c. tapioca starch

1 c. water

How to Make Thai Jok

Congee is made differently in each Asian country. But in Thailand Thai jok is made by:

Use a mortar and pestle, or food processor to break down the garlic, cilantro roots or stems and white pepper powder into a paste.

In a large bowl, add the paste along with the rest of the pork dumpling ingredients, and mix with your hands until all ingredients are incorporated.

In a blender, combine rice and broth, and blend on low to a coarse puree, the texture of steel cut oatmeal. Be careful not to over-blend it, or you will lose the texture of the rice.

Pour the puree into a 1-gallon large pot, and place over medium-high heat.

Stir it occasionally to make sure the bottom doesnโ€™t burn, and bring it to a gentle boil.

Whisk together the tapioca flour and water until blended. Add it to the gently boiling rice mixture while stirring.

Continue to stir it to prevent it from burning for about 2-3 minutes, or until thickened. If itโ€™s not thickening after a few minutes, make sure itโ€™s boiling, and add a few tablespoons more of a tapioca water mixture. 

Once thickened, lower the heat so the porridge bubbles a little.

Take the pork dumpling mixture out of the fridge, and roll it into balls about 1 in. or so in diameter.

Drop the balls one at a time into the rice porridge.

When all the dumplings have firmed up, and risen to the top, which usually just takes a few minutes, the rice porridge is ready to serve.

To make the coddled eggs, bring a small pot of water to a boil.

Put each of the eggs in a separate heat-proof container like a tall mug.

Once the water is boiling, pour the boiling water over the eggs with a few inches of water above them.

Let the eggs sit for about 10-15 minutes, depending on how cooked you like your eggs.

Remove the eggs from the water.

Ladle the rice porridge and pork meatballs into four bowls.

Crack an egg into each bowl of Thai jok, and sprinkle the congee toppings on top. Add Maggi and white pepper powder to your liking.

Congee Toppings

The best part of Thai Jok, or any rice congee, are the congee toppings! 

Congee toppings take the blank canvas of Thai Jok, and make it into a masterpiece of diverse flavors and textures that warms your heart anytime you devour it. 

These are some of the most common Thai rice congee toppings:

  • White Pepper Powder
  • Crispy Fried Garlic
  • Coddled or Jammy egg
  • Thinly sliced ginger
  • Cilantro
  • Green onion
  • Maggi seasoning sauce

What to serve with Thai Jok

Thai Jok is typically eaten on its own, with no other side dishes. But itโ€™s important to make sure you have all the many toppings ready to go like coddled or jammy eggs, and crispy garlic topping, etc., since the chopping and prep for them can feel like making side dishes!

Sherriโ€™s Thai Jok Story 

When my now oldest kiddo was 4-months-old and just starting to eat solid foods, I wanted him to try Thai baby food that most Thai babies eat, Thai jok, aka Thai rice porridge/rice congee that Thais love to eat for breakfast, but really they eat any time. 

Iโ€™m usually brave when it comes to making different kinds of Thai food, but for some reason I was hesitant to even try making Thai rice porridge, thinking it seemed too daunting for some reason.

So I didnโ€™t. 

My first kiddo ate infant rice cereal, sweet potato, avocado, carrots, bananas, yogurt, all the usual American baby foods, but no Thai baby food, Thai jok.

But with my second kiddo, I wasnโ€™t going to let my chance at serving her traditional Thai baby food pass by, even though we lived in Austin with no Thai rice porridge street vendors around. 

I almost chickened out again, but this time I got over my fear of thinking I might mess it up and just made it.

And guess what? 

Thai Hubby said the highlight of his day was eating Thai rice porridge with pork dumplings, and my baby girl kept opening her little mouth like a bird wanting to sip more and more off the baby spoon, and my older one in typical 2 year old fashion said, โ€œMai chop jok!โ€ (I donโ€™t like Thai rice porridge!)

Lesson learned: If you have a Thai dish you want to try, but you are scared of making it not taste perfectly like itโ€™s supposed to, just do it. 

Not perfectly made Thai food is better than no Thai food, and if you do mess it up, all the more reason to make it again and revel in saying, โ€œWow! It tastes so much better this time!โ€

And many thanks to my favorite Thai cookbooks, Pok Pok by Andy Ricker, and Simple Thai Foodby Leela Punyaratabandhu that gave me the courage to attempt something new in my Thai cooking repertoire!

After you cook it up, I’m dying to see what your Thai rice porridge looks like! Share it with me @thaifoodie on Instagram!

How to Make Thai Jok | Thai Rice Congee
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How to Make Thai Jok


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  • Author: Sherri Pengjad
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x
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Description

If you want to try something new for breakfast, try out savory Thai rice porridge with pork dumplings!


Ingredients

Scale

Pork Dumplings

  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 2 cilantro roots or 3 tbsp. finely chopped cilantro stems
  • 1 tsp. white pepper powder or 1/2 tsp. whole white peppercorns
  • 1 lb. ground pork
  • 1 tbsp. oyster sauce
  • 1 tsp. Thai thin soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp. tapioca starch or cornstarch

Porridge

  • 2 c. cooked jasmine rice
  • 6 c. chicken broth
  • 1/2 c. tapioca starch or corn starch
  • 1 c. water

Toppings

  • White pepper powder
  • Crispy Fried Garlic Topping
  • Coddle or Jammy eggs
  • Thinly slice ginger
  • Coarsely chopped cilantro, leaves and stems
  • Green onion sliced into 1/4 inc. slices
  • Maggi Seasoning Sauce

Instructions

  1. Use a mortar and pestle, or food processor to break down the garlic, cilantro roots or stems and white pepper powder into a paste.
  2. In a large bowl, add the paste along with the rest of the pork dumpling ingredients, and mix with your hands until all ingredients are incorporated.
  3. In a blender, combine rice and broth, and blend on low to a coarse puree, the texture of steel cut oatmeal. Be careful not to over-blend it, or you will lose the texture of the rice.
  4. Pour the puree into a 1-gallon large pot, and place over medium-high heat.
  5. Stir it occasionally to make sure the bottom doesnโ€™t burn, and bring it to a gentle boil.
  6. Whisk together the tapioca flour and water until blended. Add it to the gently boiling rice mixture while stirring.
  7. Continue to stir it to prevent it from burning for about 2-3 minutes, or until thickened. If itโ€™s not thickening after a few minutes, make sure itโ€™s boiling, and add a few tablespoons more of a tapioca water mixture.
  8. Once thickened, lower the heat so the porridge bubbles a little.
  9. Take the pork dumpling mixture out of the fridge, and roll it into balls about 1 in. or so in diameter.
  10. Drop the balls one at a time into the rice porridge.
  11. When all the dumplings have firmed up, and risen to the top, which usually just takes a few minutes, the rice porridge is ready to serve.
  12. To make the coddled eggs, bring a small pot of water to a boil.
  13. Put each of the eggs in a separate heat-proof container like a tall mug.
  14. Once the water is boiling, pour the boiling water over the eggs with a few inches of water above them.
  15. Let the eggs sit for about 10-15 minutes, depending on how cooked you like your eggs.
  16. Remove the eggs from the water.
  17. Ladle the rice porridge and pork meatballs into four bowls.
  18. Crack an egg into each bowl of Thai jok, and sprinkle the congee toppings on top. Add Maggi and white pepper powder to your liking.

Notes

If you want to make Thai rice porridge baby food, just leave out the toppings and egg. You can try to break up the pork dumpling and mix it in the porridge too, or leave it out.

  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Category: Soup
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: Thai

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 4

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @thaifoodie on Instagram

By: Sherri Pengjad ยท In: Rice Dishes, Soup, Thai Family

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Heghineh says

    June 21, 2015 at 12:10 am

    Wow ,that looks so fresh and so appetizing, love the colors too,I will try it over the weekend.
    thank you for sharing

    Reply
    • Sherri Pengjad says

      June 23, 2015 at 3:15 pm

      Thanks Heghineh! I hope you enjoyed it!!

      Reply
  2. ashok says

    March 7, 2021 at 2:44 am

    My Family Loved it. I am definitely sharing Guys, Thanks For sharing this Great Recipe. this recipe and this website with my friend. Hope they also love it. Thank you again for sharing such a great recipe.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. How to Make a Thai-Style Omelette |Thai Recipe | Thai Foodie says:
    September 27, 2017 at 8:40 pm

    […] do have a sort of rice porridge called jok, but it’s a bit too intense for breakfast for […]

    Reply
  2. How to Make a Thai-Style Omelette |Thai Recipe | Thai Foodie – Cool Home Recipes says:
    January 30, 2020 at 9:38 am

    […] do have a sort of rice porridge called jok, but itโ€™s a bit too intense for breakfast for […]

    Reply

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