Congee Village

Occasion: Comfort food takeout
Location: Congee Village on Allen between Delancey and Broome (sunsungroup.com/congeevillage)
Edibles: Five Spices duck; pork and preserved egg congee; fish congee

Musings: Cold weather + a touch of the sniffles = Congee Time! I can make the plain version for myself, using a short-grained Japanese rice. But today I was craving the savory Cantonese version, which has an altogether different texture. (OK, it's not unlike a bowl of paste. But be open-minded - oatmeal and grits are in the same goopy family.)

The pork congee was fine but the fish one had tons of little bones in it - I found one in almost every other bite. I think they used trimmings, or parts near the belly. Poor form there. The duck was not roasted, as I expected, but rather braised in a salty soy sauce-based broth. Didn't come close to matching Hing Won's.

Can't argue with the prices - $2.95 for a quart of the pork and $3.95 for the fish - but it will obviously take some more trial and error before I get the hang of their menu.