Eat Healthy and Cheap
Congee with Toppings
Congee gets its characteristic silkiness from rice starch breaking out of ruptured grains during a long simmer, something white rice manages largely on its own within an hour or two. Brown rice keeps its bran layer intact, so the grain holds its shape far longer and won't get there by simmering alone. Blending a cup of the half-cooked porridge and stirring it back in ruptures those grains by force, delivering the same soft, spoonable body without losing the fiber the bran carries. Setting the toppings out separately rather than stirring them in is how congee is usually served, and it means each bowl gets exactly as much ginger, crunch, or savoriness as the person eating it wants.
Ingredients
- 1 cup short grain brown rice, rinsed until the water runs clear
- 4 pieces Dried shiitake
- 1 piece Kombu, a 4-inch (10 cm) strip
- 2 inches Ginger, unpeeled, half sliced into coins for the pot, half cut into matchsticks for topping
- 3 cloves Garlic, smashed
- 4 Scallions, whites and greens separated, both thinly sliced
- 3 cups Spinach, roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp Low-sodium tamari
- 1/4 tsp White pepper
- 2 tbsp Sesame seeds, toasted
- 1/4 cup Peanuts, raw, toasted whole and roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup Cilantro, chopped
Method
- Rinse the rice in a fine sieve until the water runs clear instead of cloudy. That surface starch is what would otherwise make the porridge gluey instead of silky.
- Toast the sesame seeds and the raw peanuts separately in a dry skillet over medium heat, shaking the pan often, until the sesame seeds smell nutty and the peanuts darken a shade, 2 to 3 minutes each. Set both aside to cool, then roughly chop the peanuts.
- Soak the dried shiitake in 2 cups (480 ml) hot water for 20 minutes, until pliable. Lift them out, slice thin, and save the soaking liquid: it is a free stock built from nothing but the mushroom.
- Combine the rinsed rice, 8 cups (2 L) water, the mushroom soaking liquid, and the kombu in a heavy pot. Bring to a bare simmer, then lift out the kombu just as the water starts to move. Left in any longer, it turns the broth slick instead of savory.
- Add the sliced shiitake, the smashed garlic, and the ginger coins. Partially cover and simmer on low for 70 to 80 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes so the rice doesn't catch on the bottom. Brown rice keeps its bran, so it needs more water and more time than white rice to give up its starch.
- At the 45-minute mark, ladle out 1 cup (240 ml) of the porridge, blend it smooth or mash it hard with a fork, and stir it back into the pot. Breaking that portion of the grain by force is what gets brown rice to the same silky body white rice reaches on its own.
- When the congee coats the back of a spoon and most of the grains have burst, stir in the chopped spinach and the scallion whites. Cook 2 minutes more, just until the spinach wilts.
- Off the heat, stir in the tamari a little at a time, tasting as you go, until the broth reads round and savory rather than salty.
- Ladle into bowls and let everyone finish their own: scallion greens, ginger matchsticks, toasted peanuts, toasted sesame seeds, cilantro, and a pinch of white pepper, set out on the table for each person to choose.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 270 calories, 8 g protein, 5 g fiber. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt.
