Rice Congee with Pork Meatballs Recipe for Khao Dtom Moo Suup

This rice congee with pork meatballs recipe for khao dtom moo suup makes a very satisfying bowl of rice porridge bobbing with flavoursome pork meatballs, topped with chilli oil and crunchy fried shallots, and garnished with loads of fresh fragrant herbs. This comforting Thai-Lao congee can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or a casual dinner.

You’re going to love this rice congee with pork meatballs recipe for khao dtom moo suup – especially if you’re a lover of rice bowl meals and you’ve made and enjoyed our other Southeast Asian congee recipes, such as this Thai rice soup with shredded chicken and this Cambodian rice soup with meatballs.

Rice porridges and rice soups or congees, as Chinese rice porridges are also called – and China is almost certainly where they originated – are made all over Southeast Asia, especially here in Cambodia, and in neighbouring Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Laos.

Many of the rice soup and rice porridge recipes in the region are what are called ‘same same but different’ here in Southeast Asia. But the Cambodian congee recipe is the most similar to this Thai-Lao rice porridge recipe.

Made with leftover rice, the Cambodian recipe is called ‘borbor sor’ or ‘white rice porridge’ in Khmer, and it’s one of several ways to make Cambodian borbor. ‘White’ is used in that sense to distinguish borbor sor from other Cambodian congees made with the herb and spice paste called kroueng and/or stock that gives it colour.

The Thai-Lao congee in our images certainly has colour! It’s made with chicken stock, but it’s the spoonfuls of homemade chilli oil, glugs of glorious fish sauce, and generous sprinkles of crunchy fried shallots that conceal the white rice. I know, I’ve gone overboard, but it’s so delish!

Before I tell you more about this rice congee with pork meatballs recipe, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader supported. If you’ve enjoyed our recipes, please support Grantourismo by supporting our Cambodian cuisine history and cookbook on Patreon, which you can do for as little as the price of a coffee; by buying a handcrafted KROK, the best mortar and pestle ever; or buying something on Amazon, such as these classic cookbooks for serious cooks, or gifts for Asian food lovers. Now let me share this recipe for khao dtom moo suup.

Rice Congee with Pork Meatballs Recipe for Khao Dtom Moo Suup

This rice congee with pork meatballs recipe for khao dtom moo suup is based on a recipe of the same name in Lao-Thai-American chef James Syhabout’s delightful cookbook Hawker Fare, Stories and Recipes from a Refugee Chef’s Isan Thai and Lao Roots. I’ve just made a few tweaks to the chef’s recipe.

While my recipe has diverged a little from the chef’s, I’ve kept his recipe name to acknowledge the source and inspiration. The chef cooks his rice in water with ginger slices, for starters, whereas I used a light homemade chicken stock, ginger and lemongrass stalks, and later I also add finely sliced coriander stems.

The chef makes his meatball mixture first and then sets it aside, then after the rice is ready he spoons the mixture and drops the teaspoon size pork mixture into the rice porridge to form the meatballs. I found that by doing this the meatballs cook unevenly, so I shape the rustic meatballs while the rice is cooking, then I drop them all into the congee together, in batches.

Another difference between our recipes is that the chef’s meatball mixture calls for sliced scallions and MSG (although he stipulates it’s optional), whereas I’ve gone with finely sliced garlic chives instead of scallions and I’ve skipped the MSG as we have a lot of North American readers who prefer not to use MSG.

One thing I did stick with was the chef’s use of Golden Mountain seasoning in the meatballs. Normally I’d use fish sauce and/or soy sauce, but the Golden Mountain is great. If you can’t source it, use fish sauce and/or soy sauce instead.

Lastly, the chef’s Lao-Thai style rice congee with pork meatballs recipe calls for a homemade garlic oil as a condiment to drizzle on top of the rice soup, but I’ve stuck with our homemade chilli oil, which I absolutely adore, along with crunchy fried shallots I buy from the market, and loads of fresh fragrant herbs, scallions and chives.

Just a few tips to making this Thai-Lao rice congee with pork meatballs recipe as it’s super easy.

Tips to Making this Rice Congee with Pork Meatballs Recipe for Khao Dtom Moo Suup

I only have a few tips to making this Lao-Thai style rice congee with pork meatballs recipe as it’s really very easy. It’s also very delicious, so my first tip is to make a big batch as it will keep in the fridge for a few days.

James Syhabout’s recipe in Hawker Fare calls for half as much rice and a little under a third of the pork mince and yet the recipe claims to serve 6-8. I think there’s a typo there. I double the amount of rice in my recipe and double the stock and water, which results in either 4 big generous bowls of congee or 6-8 small bowls.

If you can’t find Golden Mountain, use a good quality fish sauce and/or soy sauce. We have a sizeable collection of fish sauces and use Cambodian fish sauce for Cambodian recipes, Vietnamese fish sauce for Vietnamese dishes, Thai fish sauce for Thai recipes and so on, but we don’t have a Lao fish sauce, and you might also find it challenging to source one.

As the chef’s heritage is Thai-Lao, I’ve opted for Thailand’s Megachef fish sauce, which we love for its quality and consistency. It should be easy to find in Australia and the USA. Although some of our American readers say they prefer the American-Vietnamese brand Red Boat Fish Sauce. We haven’t tried it as we’ve never seen it here in Southeast Asia.

You should have no trouble finding a good soy sauce, but I highly recommend making Terence’s homemade chilli oil but obviously if you’re short on time you could use a store-bought chilli oil too.

Rice Congee with Pork Meatballs Recipe for Khao Dtom Moo Suup

Rice Congee with Pork Meatballs Recipe for Khao Dtom Moo Suup

AuthorLara Dunston

This rice congee with pork meatballs recipe for khao dtom moo suup makes a very satisfying bowl of rice porridge based on a recipe by Lao-Thai-American chef James Syhabout. Bobbing with flavoursome pork meatballs, topped with chilli oil and crunchy fried shallots, and garnished with loads of fresh fragrant herbs, this comforting congee can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Course Breakfast, Lunch

Cuisine Lao, Thai

Servings made with recipeServings 4

Calories 500 kcal

Equipment

Stock Pot

Baking Scales

Ingredients

 

MetricUS Customary

 

1x2x3x

• 1 litre chicken stock - or pork or vegetable stock
• 1 big big knob fresh ginger - peeled, sliced
• 1 lemongrass stalk - pounded with pestle – or 1 tsp ground lemongrass
• 150 g jasmine rice
• 400 g ground pork - fatty
• 2 tbsp finely sliced garlic chives
• 2 tsp quality salt - divided
• 1 tsp onion powder
• ½ tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp Golden Mountain sauce - or 1 tbsp soy sauce and fish sauce
• 1 litre water - or as needed
• 6 coriander stems - finely sliced
• ½ tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp salt

Instructions

 

• To a medium-sized pot on high heat, add the chicken stock, slices of fresh ginger, pounded lemongrass stalk (or 1 tsp ground lemongrass) and bring to a boil; add the cup of jasmine rice, reduce the heat to a simmer and set a timer for 20 minutes.
• While the rice is cooking, make the meatballs: in a large mixing bowl, use a tablespoon to combine the fatty minced pork, finely sliced garlic chives, Golden Mountain sauce (or soy sauce), fish sauce, and a teaspoon each of onion powder, ground white pepper, and salt; don’t over mix.
• Use a teaspoon to scoop out the pork mixture and scales to weigh each portion, aiming for 12 g per meatball, then lightly roll the mixture between your hands a couple of times to form a loose meatball (don’t over-roll as it will create a tight dense texture).
• Drop the meatball in the congee to cook for five minutes (alternatively, cook it in a microwave), taste it, adjust the seasoning to suit your palate, then continue, transferring each meatball to a tray, until you’ve used all the mixture. (Should make 36 meatballs.)
• To the pot of now-cooked rice, add half a litre of water, a teaspoon of salt, half a teaspoon of white pepper, and finely sliced coriander stems; when the rice congee is bubbling again, gently transfer the meatballs to the congee so they don’t break apart.
• Cook the congee for another ten minutes, adding more water as needed; taste a meatball to make sure it’s cooked; then ladle the congee into bowls.
• Spoon chilli oil onto each bowl, sprinkle on crispy fried shallots, garnish with fresh coriander leaves, fresh dill, sliced scallions, and finely sliced garlic chives, and serve immediately with additional dishes of fresh herbs, chilli oil, chilli flakes, lime wedges, and bottles of fish sauce and soy sauce.

Notes

To serve: chilli oil, crispy fried shallots, fresh coriander leaves, fresh dill, sliced scallions, finely sliced garlic chives, lime wedges, chilli flakes, birds eye chillies, fish sauce, soy sauce.

Nutrition

Calories: 500kcalCarbohydrates: 40gProtein: 27gFat: 25gSaturated Fat: 9gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 80mgSodium: 2447mgPotassium: 645mgFiber: 1gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 285IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 42mgIron: 2mg

Please do let us know if you make this Thai-Lao style rice congee with pork meatballs recipe for khao dtom moo suup as we’d love to know how it turns out for you.