Vegetable congee, a vegetarian recipe from China

Name: Vegetable congee
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 75 min
Total time: 85 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: 180 g short-grain or jasmine rice; 1.8 litres vegetable stock labelled gluten free; 6 dried shiitake, soaked and sliced; 4 cm piece of ginger, thinly sliced; 1 carrot, finely diced; 4 spring onions, sliced; 1 tsp salt; ½ tsp ground white pepper; 1 tbsp sesame oil; Roasted peanuts or sesame seeds, to serve

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.

The techniques this recipe uses

Drain and rinse
Canning liquid clouds a sauce and salts it blind: rinse until the water runs clear.

Frequently asked questions

Why toss the raw rice with oil and salt before cooking?

That short rest weakens the surface of the grains, so they burst more readily and release their starch. The congee reaches its creamy texture faster and more evenly than with rice that has simply been rinsed.

Which rice should I use, and how much should I rinse it?

Short-grain or jasmine rice, which break down well; parboiled long-grain keeps its grains intact and will never turn creamy. Rinse briefly to remove dust, without trying to wash away all the starch, which is exactly what you need here.

My congee catches on the bottom of the pan. How do I stop it?

The released starch settles as soon as the heat is too high. Keep the barest tremble, lid ajar, and stir every ten minutes, scraping the base properly. A heavy-bottomed pan makes a real difference.

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Vegetable congee

Method

The techniques this recipe uses

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Nutrition per serving

Frequently asked questions

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