Level 5 · Minced & Moist: soft, moist food with tiny pieces (no bigger than 4 mm, about the gap between fork prongs), held together in a thick sauce. Very little chewing needed. What do the levels mean?
Serves: 3 · Time: 1 hour 30 minutes, mostly simmering
Ingredients: Jasmine rice, low-sodium chicken broth, skinless chicken thigh, fresh ginger, a few drops of sesame oil.
Steps
Simmer 1/2 cup rice in 5 cups broth with 3 slices ginger for 75 minutes, stirring often, until thick and the grains have broken down. Remove the ginger.
Poach 6 oz chicken in the jook until cooked, then lift out and mince finely (4 mm).
Stir the chicken back in and cook until there is no runny liquid around the edges. Season lightly.
Shortcut: Use a rice cooker’s porridge setting, or start with leftover cooked rice.
Check the texture: press with a fork and the pieces separate easily and pass between the prongs. It slides off a tilted spoon with no thin liquid pooling on the plate.
Use the food level recommended by your speech-language pathologist or doctor. Textures change with cooking time, cooling and reheating, so check the food each time before serving, using the simple fork and spoon tests in our swallowing guide. Sit upright to eat, take small bites, and stay upright for 30 minutes after.