Chicken Congee from Indonesia

Bubur ayam (Indonesian for "chicken congee") is an Indonesian chicken congee. It is rice congee with shredded chicken meat served with some condiments, such as chopped scallion, crispy fried shallot, celery, tongcay (preserved salted vegetables), fried soybean, Chinese crullers (youtiao, known as cakwe in Indonesia), both salty and sweet soy sauce, and sometimes it is topped with yellow chicken broth and kerupuk (Indonesian style crackers).

Unlike many other Indonesian dishes, it is not spicy; sambal or chili paste is served separately. It is a favourite breakfast food, served from humble travelling vendors, warung (small local shops), and fastfood establishments to fancy five star hotel restaurants. The travelling bubur ayam vendors usually pass through the streets of residential areas in the morning selling their wares.

The origin of bubur ayam was probably derived from Chinese chicken congee. The traces of Chinese cuisine influences are the use of cakwe (youtiao), tongcay and soy sauce.

Bubur ayam employs a wide range of poultry products, such as shredded chicken meat for the main dish and different dishes made with chicken offal as side delicacies. Bubur ayam is often eaten with the addition of boiled chicken egg, chicken liver, gizzard, intestines and uritan (premature chicken eggs acquired from butchered hens), served as satay. There are some variants of bubur ayam, such as bubur ayam Bandung and bubur ayam Sukabumi, both from West Java.

The later variant uses raw telur ayam kampung (lit. "village chicken egg", i.e. free-range eggs) which is buried under the hot rice congee to allow the egg to be half-cooked, with the other ingredients on top of the rice congee. The recipe and condiments of bubur ayam served by humble travelling vendors and warung are also slightly different with those served in fastfood establishments or hotel restaurants.