Congee or conjee (KON-jee) is a type of rice porridge eaten in Asian countries. Rice is cooked with plenty of water and seasoned with umami ingredients like dried seafood/shrimp.
Mine is more subtle with the gentle flavors of ginger and shallots in a vegetable broth. When eaten as plain rice congee, it is most often served with side dishes. At my place, we love it with Kung Pao Chicken or Basil Chicken Stir fry.
When additional ingredients such as meat, fish, and flavorings are added directly while preparing the congee, it is most often served as a meal on its own.
Porridge is the quintessential Asian comfort food and super on days when one is not feeling well or has a low appetite.
Congee | Chinese Rice Porridge
® This is a RAS signature Recipe©
♦Prep time:5 min ♦Cook time: 40 min ♦Serves 5.
A detailed introduction, and related links are available on the
Recipe Intro ↓ Check it out or scroll down for the Recipe ⇓.
EAT AND TELL!!! Let us know if you tried – Congee | Chinese Rice Porridge
| ♦Mail me your pics and testimonials 🙂 – recipesaresimple@gmail.com ♦If you make the dish and share it on your social media, please don‘t forget to tag me @recipesaresimple and hashtag it #recipesaresimple on any platform. ♥Please rate the recipe if you have tried it below ↓♦Quick Browse to see All Recipes by Category.♦World Cuisines to browse recipes by Country. ♥Thanks for visiting www.recipesaresimple.com |
Congee | Chinese Rice Porridge
Description
Congee is a staple comfort food across China and much of Asia. It's essentially white rice cooked in a large volume of water or stock until it breaks down into a creamy, thick porridge. Its delicate, nourishing flavor makes it popular for breakfast, a light lunch, or when feeling under the weather.
Ingredients:
Instructions
-
Rinse the rice and add it to a pot along with the water or stock (see notes). You can also make this ( easier method) in an Instant Pot (read further).
-
Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat. Simmer on medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.
-
Keep the pot partially covered to prevent boiling over. Stirring occasionally is required to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom.
OR Cook in an Instant Pot/ Electric pressure cooker:
-
Add rice, water (or stock) to the inner pot. Set to seal. Pressure cook on Porridge or Risotto mode till done. When making Congee in 'instant pot style' cookers, always wait for the 'floating valve' to go back down, BEFORE you turn the pressure regulator to 'vent' and open.
-
Add salt to taste, unless you are using salted stock.
-
Use a ladle to mash the rice a little (stirring briskly) and continue cooking till the rice is broken down to a gruel. Add boiled water to loosen as necessary. The texture should be quite smooth.
-
-
And once the 'Congee' is cooked
Heat the vegetable oil in a small pan and fry the shallots and ginger till the shallots become golden and lightly crispy. Do not allow the shallots to turn too dark. -
Add the fried ingredients along with the sesame oil to the porridge and stir again.
-
Garnish with chopped scallions/ spring onion greens.
-
I love to serve with my Kung Pao Chicken or Thai Basil Chicken and Crispy Fried Shallots.
-
Serve hot!
Note
- To make a simple Chicken Porridge, prepare the required amount of stock using chicken bones, neck, etc... Add salt to taste. Strain the stock and add rice and cook the same way, but add some small chunks of chicken thigh meat. For the seasoning, fry shallots, ginger, and GARLIC too... Add to the porridge, along with sesame oil. Garnish with coriander leaves.
- STOCK: I make either vegetable stock for this using 10 cups of water, carrot, celery, onion, and mushroom, OR use two vegetable stock cubes with 9 cups of water if pressed for time.
- The Congee tends to thicken after sitting for a while. Simply add boiled water to loosen up a bit. You can add a little salt or light soy sauce to the seasoning as needed.
- Rice-to-Liquid Ratio: The standard ratio is about 1 part rice to 8-10 parts liquid. A 1:8 ratio will yield a thicker, creamier congee; a 1:10 ratio will be thinner and more soupy.
- Rice Type: Short-grain or medium-grain white rice is often preferred as it releases starch more easily, resulting in a silkier, creamier texture. Long-grain rice (like Jasmine) can also be used but may require longer cooking.
- The Simmer: The rice must be simmered gently for a long time (depending on rice grain) until the grains "bloom" and disintegrate.
- Washing the Rice: Always rinse the rice until the water runs mostly clear to remove excess starch, which prevents a sticky, gummy porridge.
- Key Ingredients: Rice, Water, Shallots, Ginger, Oil, Sesame Oil, Salt.
