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AI-generated photograph: Pale, silky rice congee in a white porcelain bowl, bright green pak choi to one side, a crown of golden crispy shallots and ginger, fine spring onion rings and coriander leaves, a thread of dark tamari

Home · Recipes · Ginger rice congee with greens and crispy shallots

East and South East Asian · Breakfast

Ginger rice congee with greens and crispy shallots

silky ginger congee · tender pak choi · crisp shallot

AI-generated photograph

Congee is a soft, savoury rice porridge eaten for breakfast across China and East Asia. This one is gently scented with ginger and garlic, with tender pak choi stirred through and a crunchy topping of fried shallots.

Contains: soya, as written. Contains soya, from the tamari. Tamari is usually wheat free but check the label if you need it gluten free, and check the vegetable stock, which can contain celery.

Ingredients

  • 200g jasmine rice
  • 1 litre vegetable stock
  • A piece of ginger about the size of your thumb (30g), peeled and cut into thin matchsticks
  • 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 4 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced into rings
  • 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 200g pak choi, leaves and stalks sliced
  • Half a teaspoon salt, then more to taste
  • 2 tablespoons tamari (a wheat free soy sauce)
  • To serve: 2 spring onions, thinly sliced
  • To serve: a small handful of fresh coriander (15g), leaves picked

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Let's cook

  1. Put the rice in a sieve and rinse it under the cold tap for 1 minute, moving it with your hand, until the water runs almost clear.
  2. Tip the rice into a large pan with the stock, 500ml water, half the ginger and the garlic. Bring it to the boil, then turn the heat down to low. Put the lid on, leaving a small gap so it does not boil over.
  3. Simmer for 50 to 60 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes and scraping the bottom, until the grains have burst and the congee is thick, smooth and creamy, like a loose porridge. Add a splash of hot water if it gets too thick.
  4. While it cooks, make the crispy shallots. Heat the oil in a small frying pan on a medium heat. Add the shallots and fry for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until deep golden. Watch closely at the end, as they go from golden to burnt quickly. Lift them out onto kitchen paper; they crisp up as they cool. Keep the oil.
  5. In the same oil, fry the rest of the ginger for 1 minute until fragrant and lightly golden. Lift it out onto the paper with the shallots.
  6. When the congee is ready, stir in the pak choi and cook for 3 to 4 minutes until the stalks are just tender and the leaves bright green. Season with the salt, then taste and add more if needed.
  7. Ladle into warm bowls. Drizzle each with a little tamari and a teaspoon of the shallot oil, then top with the crispy shallots, fried ginger, spring onion and coriander.

Tips

  • Stir and scrape the bottom often: rice porridge likes to stick.
  • The shallot oil is full of flavour. Keep any left over in a jar in the fridge for up to a week and use it for frying.
  • To keep leftovers, cool the congee quickly (spread it in a shallow dish), cover and refrigerate within an hour. Eat within a day, reheating with a splash of water until steaming hot all the way through.

Swaps

  • More protein: stir in cubes of firm tofu with the pak choi (tofu contains soya).
  • Other greens: use spinach or shredded spring greens instead of pak choi.
  • Quicker: use leftover cooked rice that was cooled fast and kept in the fridge no more than a day, simmered in the stock for 20 minutes.

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