“Congee” Vs “Porridge”

By: Erry Yulia Siahaan

 It was still in the morning when I found a writing challenge from Om Jay, my tutor. He posted a picture  in our group whatsapp. It’s a bowl of “bubur ayam”.

 

“Bisakah anda membuat tulisan yg menarik dari foto bubur ayam ini?  Tersedia pulsa 100.000 buat anda yg mampu menuliskannya dengan snagat kreatif dan menarik.” He said on his message.

Well, it wasn’t the prize that made me wanted to try, but the challenge. The group consists of 73 members. That wouldn’t be easy to win. But, if I won,  that would be a big present for me to start all this Sunday.

I took a look at the picture. A closer one. Hmmm, it looked very delicious. Everyone knows a bowl of “bubur ayam” is always a good choice for breakfast. But, what does make it so special to be written? A bowl of “bubur ayam” is usual to be seen. It's appetizing, especially when it’s served in the morning and we eat it after jogging. Ups, that’s a kinda habit I used to do before I got trouble with my right knee.

I should write to make mine different  from others, I thought. The spoon which was put on the left side got my attention. Well, it might have tried to say “the man who ordered was a left-handed”. Others?

Then my mind went to something closer to my daily life: The English for “bubur ayam”. (I always eager to know deeper about words. I have to. I am an English teacher.) We may hear people say “porridge” for “bubur’ or “chicken porridge” for bubur ayam. Even I used to find them in the menu of four or five stars hotels in Jakarta. That isn’t wrong but isn’t correct either. So, what?

Actually, the use of “porridge” is not accurate for “bubur” in this case though the texture of porridge could be like “bubur”. We have two words to say soft meal like “bubur” in English. They are “congee” and “porridge”. I prefer using “chicken congee” to “chicken porridge” to say “bubur ayam” in English. We need rice to make “bubur ayam”. So, if we want to use “porridge” to say “bubur ayam” in English, we are better to say “chicken rice porridge”. Why?

Porridge is a meal which is made from oats; others say any grain and some. Congee is made from rice and only from rice. Peter Flom who admitted himself as “an adventurous eater” once said that porridge in the USA was usually a lot thicker than a typical serving of congee (although both vary and there was some overlap in degree of thickness). Meanwhile, congee was often served with savory additions; western porridge rarely was.

Others say that porridge is a type of thick soup or stew, especially thickened with barley. Congee is a type of thick rice porridge or soup, sometimes prepared with vegetables and/or meat.

        If I may add, porridge is more western and congee is eastern. In most western countries, we can see people eat porridge (usually with additions like fruit, nuts, and sweeteners). In the eastern (Asia), we can find such as porridge made from rice as the base. So, we may use “congee” or “rice porridge” for  “bubur dari beras”, although they are not same completely. Because, rice porridge is simply cooked   from rice and water. We cook it until thick and creamy. Congee has more water in cooking process and the cooking is longer than regular rice as well as it is often cooked with meat or seafood or something. It means, congee is a  kind of rice porridge, but not all rice porridge is congee.

               Porridge                                             Congee

 Sumber: https://id.quora.com/

 

In other case, we may find more specific terms for congee. They are for examples “jook”, a Cantonese name for rice porridge, and “okayu”, a name for Japan rice porridge. In Indonesia, we have “bubur” or “bubur ayam”.

Hmmm, it’s always tasteful to know more about words.  ***