This creamy Chinese rice porridge—also known as congee—is a perfect cold-weather soup. I like Oriental dishes and we are cooking them a lot, mostly quick dinner dishes with rise or noodles, different vegetables, sprouts and tofu. But still my favourite Asian food is sushi… yum
Anyway, I’ve never tried Chinese porridge before, it was an interesting experience. This time I didn’t experiment too much, I wanted to try the original one. I just switched out chicken for the tempeh, added some sliced carrots and instead of short brown rice I used long grain brown rice (had them at home ☺).
Chinese porridge with lots of vegetables and tempeh
Ingredients
Salt and black pepper
400 g tempeh
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced ginger
1 fresh chili minced or dried chili flakes
½ cup chopped scallions, plus more for garnish
1 cup long-grain brown rice
2 cups cabbage sliced into very thin ribbons
1 cup snow peas
1 cup bean sprouts
2 tablespoons soy sauce, plus more for serving
9 tablespoon sesame oil
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish
Directions
Put the 3 tbsp oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add 5 mm sliced tempeh, sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Cook both sides until brownish. Set aside and cut in smaller pieces.
Put the 2 tbsp oil in a large wok over medium – high heat. When it’s hot, add the onions, cook about 2 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, chili, and ½ cup scallions and cook until they are soft, just another 2 minutes.
Add the rice along with 6 cups water. Bring to a boil, and then adjust the heat so it bubbles. Partially cover the pot and cook for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally to make sure the rice is not sticking to the bottom. If it gets too dry, add more water. Add the tempeh and cook for another half an hour or more, again stirring. The jook should have a porridge-like consistency; if it becomes very thick too quickly, turn down the heat and stir in extra water. When it is done, the jook should be soupy and creamy but still have a little chew.
Stir in the jook the cabbage, snow peas, bean sprouts, 2 tablespoons soy sauce and remaining sesame oil; cook until the vegetables are just tender, another 5 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve, passing the cilantro, additional scallions, and additional soy sauce at the table.
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