Congee is the Chinese name for rice porridge but it is also known as jok in Thailand, kenda in Sri Lanka, and cháo in Vietnam to name but a few. While they each have their own unique variations, they all begin with rice and a liquid, usually water and perhaps a little salt or fish sauce.
From that basic start, a mosaic of marvelous flavors and textures are added, such as steamed bullfrog legs, young ginger, crispy garlic, and scallions. I enjoyed this very combo on Jalan Alor in Kuala Lumpur.
The frog legs were very fresh. So fresh, in fact, that they began to twitch when the chef seasoned them with salt.
Frog muscle does not undergo rigor mortis as quickly as warm-blooded muscle (chicken, for example), so the cells inside the muscle of a recently killed frog still have a source of energy in the form of unused ATP. The sodium ions in the table salt signal the muscle cells to contract just like they would if the frog were still alive.
Chef Chris Colburn 