Brown Rice Congee
Posted on | September 5, 2008 | No Comments
What is congee? It’s an Asian comfort food that is made from rice, but resembles oatmeal. My daughter, who spent her first 2 years in China, is familiar with it. In fact, she probably ate it most mornings according to those who fed her. Congee, xifan or jook as it’s called in some parts of China, is a common food for all ages. It can be seasoned a variety of ways or have an endless array of things added to it.
When we were in China, most of the buffets we ate breakfast at would serve 3-5 types of congee. Its consistency can be thick like a porridge or thinner and watery. I never knew what to expect until I lifted the lid of the huge rice cookers and looked inside. Usually all but one of them would have some type of meat in it: either bits or shavings of dried sea animals, broth from a chicken or maybe small pieces of pork. These don’t appeal to me, so I chose the plain type unless there happened to be one with only peas or carrots in it. My daughter also preferred it plain.
I wanted to make some congee for my daughter, but wondered, “Can it be made with brown rice?” As you may know, we use whole foods as much as possible in my kitchen. White rice is stripped of the bran and some of the fiber and nutrients are removed with that, therefore we use brown rice. I found a recipe and added some additional water. It turned out fine, although it probably took longer to cook than white rice. I didn’t notice though, since it happened while I was sleeping.
========== Plain Brown Rice Congee ==========
1 rice-cooker cup of brown rice (equals 3/4 cup in regular American measurements)
5 cups water
Before going to bed, add the ingredients to your rice cooker and start it up with the porridge setting. The congee will be ready in the morning.
Note: We use a 5.5 cup Zojirushi Fuzzy Logic type of cooker.
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OK, so that’s not much of a recipe. The fun is in what you choose to add to it. If you want to be more adventurous, feel free to throw in whatever you like. Maybe cinnamon, maple syrup and some raisins similar to how you might prepare oatmeal in the West. Perhaps vegetables, green onions, ginger and soy sauce if you’re having your rice porridge at dinner time? If you need more ideas, I’ve heard reference to a Qing Dynasty manual written by Huang Yungu which lists over 200 ways to make congee. Maybe some of those ideas have been translated to English?
My daughter still prefers her congee plain and just finished two bowls of it for breakfast. Now she’s moved on to dessert – a banana. I think I’ll try mine in a way sure to make most Chinese people cringe. I’m adding dried cranberries, fresh peaches and a few drops of vanilla extra today.
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