Ham Hock Congee with Pickles

Congee is a Chinese rice porridge that sounds exotic, but is, in fact, very basic. It’s a small amount of rice, cooked in a large volume of water, stirred often to produce a silky, soft texture (imagine risotto and polenta had a lovechild.) To enhance the flavour, lemongrass, star anise or stock can be added to the water. For me, congee elevates to another level if a roast’s leftover bones are also added to the mix. And that is even better when a smoked ham hock (a cheap cut that’s full of