(literally "chicken congee"), or simply , is a popular

chicken soup Chicken soup is a soup made from chicken, simmered in water, usually with various other ingredients. The classic chicken soup consists of a clear chicken broth, often with pieces of chicken or vegetables; common additions are pasta, noodles, ...

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

, Cape Verdean, and Brazilian cuisine. The

term literally means "hen", but became the generic name for the species, much like

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adu ...

in English. Portuguese chicken congee has the rice much more cooked than in most Western chicken soup recipes, but it is not disintegrated as in the Asian one.

General recipe

Portugal

The basic ingredients include

, and usually small pasta (like alphabet pasta or pevide pasta) or sometimes

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

. Common flavoring ingredients are carrot, eggs, olive oil,

mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaA ...

saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent in ...

, clove,

white pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diam ...

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

and

pepper Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...

. It is usually accompanied by slices of Portuguese ''

broa ''Broa'' ( or ) is a type of corn and rye bread traditionally made in Portugal, Galicia, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde and Brazil, however in those countries it is more closely related to cornbread and its original recipe from Native Ameri ...

'' bread (corn bread) on the side for dipping. This is only a variation of this recipe.

Brazil

The Brazilian recipe for flu uses whole pieces of chicken from the areas with more bones, fried in a very light

refogado (Spanish, ), (Catalan), (Italian, ), or (Portuguese, ) is a basic preparation in Mediterranean, Latin American, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese cooking. It typically consists of aromatic ingredients cut into small pieces and sautéed or ...

using a sole smashed garlic clove (fried in vegetable oil until golden but never toasted), has the rice and vegetables (generally solely potato and carrots, in very small cubes; rarely peeled tomato) boiled in broth much more cooked than the usual, and might call for parsley and green onions. Generally no seasoning are used besides light use of salt, sauteed garlic and onion (added before the boiling process), black pepper, parsley and green onion.

Customs

is usually consumed by Brazilians, Portuguese and Cape Verdeans when they have a cold. In Portugal, Cape Verde and Brazil, is widely believed to help a person overcome colds, digestive problems, and other mild forms of sickness. In Cape Verde, is sometimes served after the funeral, at the home of the deceased, perhaps because it "soothes" the heart. It is also served in that country during special occasions, such as New Year's Eve, birthdays, and other special family events. Since {{lang, pt, canja de galinha is very simple and light, it is often consumed before a main course meal as well as a late

supper Supper was originally a secondary lighter evening meal. The main meal of the day, called dinner, used to be served closer to what is known as lunchtime, around the middle of the day, but crept later over the centuries, mostly over the course of ...

General recipe

Portugal

Brazil

Customs

See also