In the West, porridge usually means boiled oatmeal, but the corresponding "zhou" in China mostly refers to rice congee. The role of congee in a Chinese meal is similar to that of soup in the West. But in China it is eaten both at breakfast and dinner; it is served with steamed bread, and in the morning, pickles accompany it.

Rice porridge is widely considered a healthy food due to its nutritious ingredients. A classic variation from South China is rice porridge with preserved egg and pork. In North China, people eat "eight treasure" porridge on December 8 of lunar calendar. This contains eight ingredients, such as red bean, Chinese jujube, chestnuts and dried lotus seeds.

Other popular porridge ingredients include sweet potatoes, dried lily bulbs, pumpkin, chestnuts, peanuts, fish fillet, pork liver and yams, which the Chinese believe benefit the liver and kidneys. Any vegetable or nutritious food can be put into porridge.

Rice porridge used to be too ordinary to put on a restaurant menu, unless the establishment was very cheap. But in recent years, congee-themed restaurants have emerged in great numbers. Hong Zhuang Yuan, Bai Zhou Xiang, and Jia He Yi Pin are the biggest porridge chain restaurants in Beijing. These congee-based snack restaurants offer not just a variety of rice porridge, but also dim sum, cold dishes, hot dishes, as well as drinks.

Hong Zhuang Yuan, Yansha branch

This is one of several best branches of this porridge chain restaurant. The brand name has developed 26 outlets to become the biggest porridge chain in town. Most chain restaurants are alike: compact seating space, a lot of people during meal times, and a simple menu.

But Hong Zhuang Yuan has developed a more extensive menu and good service. The menu offers more than 50 different kinds of porridge, cold and hot dishes, dim sum, and drinks. The menu has colour photos and is in both Chinese and English.

Ordering is easy and service is fast.

Try staples like vegetable rice porridge, rice porridge with preserved egg and pork slices, rice and barley porridge with yam and Chinese jujube. A specialty is Zhuang Yuan Zhou ( No 1 scholar rice porridge), which is named after the restaurant. The sweet porridge contains peanuts and chestnuts. It is done on a bigger size and called Zhuang Yuan Yi Pin Zhou (first-class, No 1 scholar), in a light salty rice porridge boiled with a variety of nuts, served in a pot, enough for three people.

Fried assorted vegetables and Zhuang Yuan Hamburger with duck meat are two fried hot dishes worth ordering. Sesame cakes with sugar are also tasty.

One person can get a good meal for 20-30 yuan, or less. An ordinary bowl of porridge costs 6 yuan.

The Yansha branch is relatively cleaner and tidier.

24 hours. 1/F Longbao Dasha, 36 Maizidian Jie, Chaoyang District. 6506-3858. 361.

Bai Zhou Xiang East Plaza branch

Like many other porridge restaurants, this place is packed during meal times. Because there are so many customers, sometimes service is a little slack, and it can be difficult to get your food quickly. The place does not have an English menu, but it does have colour photos.

Compared to Hong Zhuang Yuan, Bai Zhou Xiang offers more southern-style porridges, and a long list of South Chinese dim sum. Eat the rice porridge with fish fillet, spinach porridge, or rice porridge with Cantonese barbeque pork . Sweet porridges like hawthorn fruit with Chinese wolfberry fruits, yam with lotus seed, sweet potato, or pumpkin with Chinese wolfberry fruit are nice treats.

Some of the most popular dim sum includes fried dumplings, crispy cakes with barbeque pork stuffing, shrimp dumplings, crispy cakes with turnip slices, and steamed dumplings with rice and pork stuffing. Steamed baozi, steamed dumplings with stuffing, is another speciality here.

Average spending is from 20-30 yuan. 24 hours. 1/F A Block, East Plaza, 9 Dongzhong Jie, Dongcheng District. 6418-5681

(China Daily, Dec. 07, 2006)