Traditional Chinese Congee Recipe For the Condiment Lover
If you’re not familiar, congee is a traditional Chinese grain porridge cooked slowly over low heat and commonly enjoyed as breakfast. From a traditional Chinese medicine perspective, it’s deeply nourishing and therapeutic: easy to digest, rich in nutrients, and wonderfully adaptable with the addition of herbs, vegetables, fruits, or proteins. Most importantly for this time of year, it’s warming, grounding, and supportive during the colder months.
At its most basic, congee is made with short-grain white rice and water and/or bone broth—making it a simple yet powerful way to support digestion and overall vitality. The below recipe makes good use of the leftover holiday turkey or chicken carcass to make a rich, umami broth.
Pro Tip: If you know the benefits of bone broth but struggle to drink it regularly, congee is an excellent (and delicious) way to incorporate it into your routine.
Basic Congee Recipe
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 1 cup short-grain white rice
- 7 cups liquid (water, bone broth, or a combination of both)
- Slivered ginger
- Thinly sliced scallion
Optional (but recommended!) condiments:
- Soy sauce
- Sesame oil
- White pepper
- Fermented tofu
- Assorted pickled vegetables (radishes, pickles)
- Peanuts and wheat gluten
- Salted duck eggs
- Century egg
Instructions
- Rinse and drain the rice well.
Optional: Soak rice for 8 hours in water. Drain and rinse before cooking. This improves digestibility, nutrient availability, and cooking time. - Combine rice and liquid in a pot with a lid slightly ajar. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer.
- Cook until the rice breaks down and reaches a creamy consistency, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Serve warm with desired toppings and condiments.
Pro Tips for the Advanced Congee Cooker
Save the carcass from your holiday bird to make homemade bone broth—perfect for congee and nothing goes to waste!
You can either add the carcass to the congee while making it (then pick out bones but add meat) OR you can use the carcass to make the broth in advance (strain out bones and add some meat) and then cook congee in the broth. The first option is easier but the second gives a cleaner finish.
- Using a pressure cooker, combine lots of water, leftover vegetables and turkey or chicken carcass and cook for 45 min. Then, allow for a 30 minute release. Next, strain the broth, add back into the pressure cooker and add some meat back in, if desired. Finally, add rice and pressure cook again for 30 minutes on high. Voila!
Peel ginger using the edge of a spoon (it really works).
Julienne ginger to maximize flavor without ending up with large chunks.
Try adding fermented vegetables for digestive support and a bright pop of flavor—there are so many great options to explore.
More Recipes & Reading
Food for Health & Healing: 3 Nourishing Breakfasts
Millet Congee with Shiitake Mushrooms and Kabocha Squash
6 Tips for Healthy Winter Eating According to Traditional Chinese Medicine
