Congee or Chinese rice porridge, is comfort food. Whether it is cold outside or you have a cold and a stuffy nose, it is very comforting to eat congee without accompaniments but merely sprinkled with oyster sauce. Lee Kum Kee’s boat brand has always been my favorite congee sauce. Yotam Ottolenghi riffed on this most humble of Chinese dishes by using brown short grain rice and, for best umami flavour, chopped shiitake mushrooms. In Asia, in Thailand especially, congee is often eaten with little dishes alongside, balancing meat and vegetables that are salty, sauce-y, bland, and spicy.
Brown Rice and Shiitake Mushroom Congee (Yotam Ottolenghi)
Yield: 4 servings
80ml canola oil
60g/6 scallions, chopped
40g fresh ginger root, chopped fine
6 large garlic cloves, chopped fine
salt to taste
180g brown short-grain rice
50g dried shiitake mushrooms
1.5L water (including mushroom soaking water)
Rayu (or Layu) Spicy Sauce
2 tablespoons red pepper flakes
4 1/2-teaspoons white sesame seeds, toasted
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds, toasted
2 1/2-teaspoons finely grated tangerine zest
7 1/2-teaspoons soy sauce
1/2 of the fried green onion oil mixture
Lightly toast white and black sesame seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat. When the white sesame starts to brown, the black sesame is done. Set aside.
Soak the mushrooms in boiling water in a large bowl, 20 minutes. When cool enough to handle, cut off the stems and chop the mushrooms into 4 or 5 pieces. Save the stems to make vegetable soup stock. Save the mushroom soaking water for the rice.
In a 3quart saucepan or Dutch pot, add the canola oil, green onions, ginger, garlic, and 1/4-teaspoon salt. Fry 12 minutes on medium heat, stirring often, until soft and aromatic. If the mixture seems to be browning too fast, turn down the heat. Remove pot from stove and strain the oil over a bowl to keep the oil. Return half the scallion mixture to the pan but save the rest.
In a food processor, process the brown rice using 5 pulses, until the rice is broken but do not make into a powder.
Add the rice and shiitake mushrooms to the pan with the green onion mixture. Turn heat to medium high. Add the water, including the mushroom water, and 1 1/4-teaspoons of salt. Stir and bring to a simmer, 30 minutes or until most of the water has been absorbed by the rice.
Make the rayu or layu while the rice is simmering. To a small bowl, add the pepper flakes, sesame seeds white and black, tangerine zest and half of the reserved oil.
To serve: spoon congee into a bowl. Top with a spoonful of rayu. Serve with a variety of accompaniments such as (but not limited to): fried Chinese sausage slices, pork and olives (recipe follows), simple sautéed vegetables, pickles, stewed pork ribs, fried fish, fried tofu cubes, egg omelette.
Pork and Olives (adapted from Jia! by Diana Dianxi Zheng)
2 tablespoons rice bran oil
500g ground pork
6 cloves garlic, minced
15 pieces of salted Chinese olives, pits removed and chopped
1 tablespoon olive vegetables
1/2 tablespoon fish sauce, plus more to taste
1/2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped, for garnish
If the olives are dried, soak them in warm water to soften, then chop fine.
Heat a dry wok over high heat. Add the oil. Spread the ground pork in the bottom of the pan and let it cook without turning, 1 minute. Add garlic and stir fry 1 minute. Add the minced olives and stir fry until well combined.
Reduce heat to medium. Continue cooking, turning occasionally, until all liquid has evaporated and the pork begins to crisp. Add olive vegetable and fish sauce, stiring to incorporate. Add dark soy and stir. Taste and add more fish sauce if needed.
Remove from heat and plate. If desired, garnish the top with chopped cilantro.
Foodie Joanie 