A steaming bowl of congee is like a hug: warm, comforting, and it makes you feel good inside. Ryan Mah, chef at Wild Rice (117 West Pender Street, 604-642-2882), scoffs at wimpy congees and prefers them to be rich in texture and flavour.

"A good congee depends on the type of congee that you are brought up with. Some people like it a bit thinner. I like it a bit thicker, like porridge. A good congee should be something that looks satisfying," he says by phone from the restaurant.

Mah used to visit his Cantonese grandmother for her special family congee with shredded pork, duck eggs, and pickled cabbage on the side. Now he concocts his own version ($8) for Wild Rice. Congee, a Chinese rice porridge called jook in Cantonese, can be eaten at any meal and historically was a way of making rice stretch further in times of poverty. Mah reinvents this traditional Chinese dish by bringing to a boil roasted duck stock and adding jasmine rice together with a bouquet garni of thyme, peppercorns, bay leaves, and lemongrass.

Congee texture ranges from a viscous chunkiness to a silky smoothness as the liquid-to-rice ratio varies. Mah uses 12 parts liquid to one part rice, and allows the mixture to simmer for about an hour until the rice breaks down, thickens, and takes on the flavours of the duck stock and herbs. He suggests experimenting with types of stock to vary the taste of the congee. "Any type of broth would work. Even water would work," he says.

The light flavour and gruel-like texture of the thickened rice make adding ingredients a crucial next step. On a per-order basis, Mah elevates the flavour of his congee by stirring in smoked duck confit, chili oil, and coriander oil, and then garnishes it with julienned smoked duck breast. The result is an inventive East-meets-West play on tastes and textures.

"You want to add anything that is going to provide a totally different texture to the rice. The congee has a very mild flavour, so whatever you add is going to be the flavour that you bring out," he explains.

Kwong Chow Congee & Noodle House (3163 Main Street, 604-876-8520) is one of the best congee houses in the city for experimenting with different ingredient combinations. Décor is spartan; the action resides in the back, where cooks add items like ostrich meat, preserved eggs, sliced fish, and dried oysters to plain congee. Server Betty Lau, who bustles about the room, recommends her favourite: the pork liver and meatball congee.

Also popular is the Hong Kong style congee ($4.50), a toothsome bowlful that arrives packed with shredded ginger, dried scallops, tripe, fish maw, squid, Chinese mushrooms, green onions, and peanuts. The subtle texture of the congee contrasts wonderfully with the crunchy and chewy textures of the other ingredients. As Lau serves the order, she instructs, "Just eat it like it is. You don't need to eat it with soy sauce." Although Lau is a seasoning purist, other congee enthusiasts, like Mah, sprinkle sesame oil, soy sauce, chili oil, white pepper, or even Japanese shichimi togarashi (seven-spice powder) on the mélange.

To sample a much thinner congee, head over to Lam Chu Kee (2118-3779 Sexsmith Road, 604-232-1328), one of the many inexpensive Richmond restaurants that speedily serve up a variety of congees. At the restaurant, owner Gary Tam explains the process of prepping the congee so that it only needs a brief reheating just before it's served: "We cook it every morning with water for one and a half hours. Then, when people order, we add in the ingredients and boil it up again before we serve it," he said.

The base congee has an incredibly delicate texture that is velvety on the palate. While Tam offers everything from pork-blood congee to fungus-and-corn congee, his most popular version is "the mixed-meat congee, with insides like pork liver and kidney" ($4.50), rich ingredients that are balanced by the simple creaminess of the rice porridge.

A piping-hot bowl of congee isn't complete without a deep-fried savoury Chinese doughnut for frequent dunking. At home, other traditional sides include pickled vegetables and pickled ginger, which add a sharp acidic contrast to the neutral rice.

And for that final intoxicating contrast, Mah recommends "something bubbly, like Domain Ste. Michelle. It is nice and light, and who doesn't like a bit of bubble?"