Forget mac and cheese. Forget mashed potatoes. The Chinese mastered the ultimate comfort food a long time ago: congee. Typically one part rice and ten parts water, the simple mixture cooks slowly for hours until it transforms into a creamy porridge that can soothe away the pains of just about anything, whether a cold, a hangover, or ennui (for less than $5, to boot). Congee’s neutral flavor means that it takes well to just about anything, including beef, pork, fish, crab, liver, and pork stomach. This week, we compare the pork and century-egg congee from neighboring ID congee specialists Mike’s Noodle House and Homestyle Hong Kong Cafe.Mike’s deep bowl of congeeMike’s Noodle House serves up a deep bowl of congee that looks like a heavenly cloud. Its white surface is scattered with scallion slices, and one good stir of the bowl reveals a fair amount of pork, diced into small cubes, as well as cubes of century egg. The pork, while salty, is perfectly bite sized and pleasantly chewy, but the preserved eggs are chopped too small to allow you to savor that great mix of textures and tastes — the black-and-brown outer layers, gelatinous and earthy, and the soft, salty blue-gray center. Surprisingly, bowl shape matters, too: Mike’s tapered bowl allows the liquid and solids to separate, giving you great rice-filled spoonfuls at the beginning and watery mouthfuls at the end. Homestyle HK Cafe’s bubbling congeeAround the corner at Homestyle Hong Kong Cafe, congee is served in a ridiculously hot stone pot (seriously, don’t touch it!), its contents burbling and bubbling like some sort of potion. It’s topped with scallions and thin matchsticks of ginger, which send up a wonderful aroma. The pork is plentiful, cut into thin but generous slices that allow you to chew through and savor them slowly. The preserved eggs are sliced lengthwise into quarters, which means you get to nibble your way through all the layers of these umami-bombs. The stone bowl gives Homestyle’s silky rice porridge a subtle, toasty flavor. And its wide, shallow serving bowl ensures thick, creamy spoonfuls of congee until the very end — the end being when you scrape the insides of the pot for any straggling bits of rice and ginger. Verdict: For years, Mike’s has been a go-to place for reliable congee. And it still is. But Homestyle HK Cafe’s has definitely upped the quality with its bubbling brew and depth of flavor, making this humble dish into something extraordinary. Homestyle for the win!