Honestly, making congee itself is not worth writing down. Its overcooking rice. However, the possibilities for using this as base for or in combination with other dishes, especially from the asian region, are endless. In any way it is a great way to use left over rice.

In the picture I served congee with some chinese chili oil on top with humus, some cooked broccoli, naan bread and chickpeas stew. The combination worked very well, except for the chili oil. The flavor was too intense for the other dishes. Next time Id rather go without oil or with a more decent one like ginger oil.

Ingredients

Basic Version:

• 250g leftover rice
• 500-750g water (2-3 times the amount of rice)
• 1/4 tbsp vegetable broth

Instructions

Mix the ingredients and bring them to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and let them cook until it thickens in. Stir occasionally. You want the rice corns to fall apart before it is really thickened.

If the rice corns kept their shape add some more water and let them cook for longer.

Depending on the rice you have at hand the amount of water and cooking time varies. I mostly cook basmati and jasmine rice. For me it takes usually 2.5 to 3 times the amount of water to get the consistency I aim for and about 45 minutes to an hour of cooking.

Versions

In addition to the basic version as described above I really enjoy the following versions:

Rich Version (salty only):

• 250g leftover rice
• 500-750g chicken stock This version works really well with meat as topping and I want to try to combine this with beef bulgogi soon.

Sweet Version:

• 250g leftover rice
• 500-750g water (2-3 times the amount of rice)
• 1 tbsp sugar The sweet version works great with fresh or frozen fruits as breakfast. Apple, raspberries, strawberries and banana were an amazing combination.

Vegetable Version (not tried yet): Adding vegetables (for example carrots) to the rice and letting them cook with it should make for a very interesting side dish.