Vegetable congee
Local name : 粥
Rice simmered for an hour into silk, scented with shiitake and ginger, peppery with white pepper and spring onion.
Photo : Prince Roy · CC BY 2.0
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 75 min
- Total
- 85 min
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Easy
Method
- Rinse and drain the rice, then toss it with a teaspoon of sesame oil and a pinch of salt; leave 15 minutes, which helps the grains burst.
- Bring the stock to the boil in a large pan with the ginger and the strained shiitake soaking water.
- Tip in the rice, return to the boil, then drop to the barest simmer.
- Cook for 60 minutes partly covered, stirring every ten minutes and scraping the base, until the grains dissolve into a cream.
- Add the shiitake and carrot halfway through, so they soften without falling apart.
- Season with salt and plenty of white pepper, and adjust the consistency with hot water: congee should fall slowly from the ladle.
- Serve in hot bowls with the spring onions, the remaining sesame oil and a handful of peanuts.
Congee is breakfast across much of China, and everyone seasons their own bowl at the table. The white pepper is not a detail: it supplies that quiet warmth at the back of the mouth.
