ramyaramesh3007The most comforting chinese rice porridge seasoned with aromatics, mushroom powder and garnished with shallots, spring onions and chili oil crisp!
I used to think rice porridge was bland but boy was I wrong. It was sometime in 2015 when I was down bad with a viral infection and poor appetite. My dad went to the nearest hawker centre and got me a porridge. “I’m not feeling that” I said – but my mum poured me a small bowl anyways. I took a few mouthfuls expecting my tastebuds to be disppointed – but I found myself going for more and more until the bowl was completely empty!
That sums up my first experience having congee. It was so so incredibly tasty but I never really had it once I turned vegan. Until recently when my father-in-law was down with a flu so I started experimenting. The first attempt was not smooth enough – I could still see the rice grains and had to keep adding water. However, by the third or fourth attempt, I was eating congee almost every month.
This recipe is pretty simple but the key is seasoning with the right aromatics. We use ginger, garlic, scallions, mushroom powder and vegan chicken boullion (or veggie stock) to get the perfect flavour. The toppings elevate the dish even further – here we’ll go with fried shallots, spring onions and a drizzle of chili oil crisp.
PS… this recipe is completely gluten free if you use gluten free soy sauce and ensure all seasonings are gluten free as well!
Add-ons!
Some lovely add-on options here could be…
- Steamed soft or firm tofu as garnish
- Add shiitake or shimeji mushrooms before cooking the congee
- Or… add a mix of leftover veggies (could be literally anything!)
- Add curry on top (YUM!)
Vegan Congee (Rice Porridge)
Ingredients
- 1 cup thai jasmine rice
- 8 cups water
- 1 tbsp mushroom seasoning
- 1 cube veggie stock or 1 tbsp vegan chicken boullion
- 6-8 slices ginger
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 stalks green onion white part only
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp soy sauce for flavour
Toppings
- fried shallots
- spring onions green part
- chili oil crisp
- sliced crispy youtiao
Instructions
- Rinse rice 4-5 times until water runs clear.
- Add water and all the other ingredients into the rice cooker. Give it a good stir.
- Press start in rice cooker under the 'congee' or 'porridge' settings. This should take about an hour or more.
- Slice a piece of crispy youtiao. I just get mine from my nearest hawker centre.
- Once done, stir the congee and garnish with fried shallots, spring onions, chili oil and youtiao. Enjoy!