Congee Recipe (Chinese Rice Porridge)

Simple homemade congee in a small white serving bowl topped with green onions and garnished and drizzled with sesame oil and soy sauce.

4.86 from 28 votes

Congee Recipe (Chinese Rice Porridge)

This recipe uses glutinous rice and a combination of water with chicken broth. You may substitute with jasmine rice or other medium-grain white rice.

Prep Time10

Cook Time1 30

Soaking Time1

Total Time2 40

Servings: people

Calories: 156kcal

Chef: Jessica Randhawa

Ingredients

▢ 1 cup glutinous rice - (see notes)
▢ 6 cups water
▢ 6 cups low-sodium broth - (chicken, beef, or vegetable)
▢ Salt - to taste
▢ 6 green onions - thinly sliced, to garnish
▢ Fresh ginger - julienned, to garnish
▢ Sesame oil and soy sauce - to garnish

Instructions

Transfer rice to a large bowl and fill with cold water. Soak for 1 hour then drain and rinse thoroughly.
Transfer the rice to a large pot. Fill with 12 cups of cooking liquid (water, chicken broth, veggie broth, beef broth, or some combination of each). Stir and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer gently, stirring every 10-20 minutes to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of your pot.
After approximately 60-90 minutes, uncover and allow the congee to cook for an additional 15 minutes or so. Season with salt, to taste, and decide if the consistency is to your liking. Add additional liquid to thin, or continue to cook, uncovered, until desired consistency is reached.
Serve congee in bowls garnished with fresh green onions, fresh ginger, sesame oil, and soy sauce, if desired.

Notes

What type of rice should you use? The type of rice will vary from one cook to another. In general, rice types you want to avoid include basmati rice, sweet sticky rice, or brown rice (unless you have extra time to let it cook). Here I used glutinous rice (often labeled sushi rice here in the US), but medium-grain Calrose rice or even jasmine rice will work. Note: if you plan to use longer-grain rice like jasmine, you will not need as much water or broth (approximately 2/3 of what is called for in the recipe).

I chose to cook my congee using a mixture of water and homemade chicken stock. Feel free to use your favorite store-bought chicken, beef, or vegetable broth, if preferred. Also, note that there is no precise liquid measurement for congee. Instead, use 12 cups as a starting point and add additional liquid as needed.

This is congee at its most basic level. Feel free to sauté a mixture of onion, garlic, and ginger before adding and cooking the rice. Have fun with different garnishes including those already mentioned and,

Shredded chicken
Fried shallots, scallions, garlic
Pepper
Eggs
Cooked fish

Nutrition

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