a winter TCM recipe to warm and heal your gut.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of jasmine rice
• 8 cups of chicken stock, vegetable stock, or bone broth (this makes a medium consistency congee, for a more soup-like consistency, use 10-12 cups.
• pinch of salt
• pinch of white pepper (warming herb)
• 1-3 inches of chopped ginger
• 3/4 cup of enoki mushrooms
• 3/4 cup of thin slicked shiitake mushrooms (dehydrated work nicely)
• 3/4 cup of thin sliced woo-ear mushrooms (dehydrated work nicely)
• Optional: Shredded chicken

Option ingredients to top at the end:

• Splash of soy sauce
• a few drops of sesame oil
• thinly sliced scallions
• cilantro
• chili flakes

Preparation:  

Rinse the rice and soak in water for 30-45 minutes. This allows the rice to break down easier during the cookie process. (you can forgo this step if you’d prefer to just rinse)  

Add all the ingredients to a large pot over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil then simmer on low heat, with the lid half covered for 2-3 hours. Stir occasionally to avoid sticking to the bottom.

Congee is done when the grains disintegrate into the liquid to reach a uniformly dense texture. (You can also use a slow cooker or instapot. Instapot has a porridge setting!)

Congee can thicken a little as it cools. Add optional ingredients from the topping list above.