Congee: An Eastern Superfood
Congee is a healing rice porridge from China, also known as "jook" in Korea. Congee is slow cooked in large amounts of liquid, allowing the rice to break down. It can be eaten at any time of the day. I like to throw mine in the slow cooker at night so that I can have a delicious, nourishing breakfast ready for me in the morning. For extra healing benefits, I recommend cooking in bone broth. Bonafide Provisions makes an excellent bone broth that you can find in the freezer section of most natural grocery stores. I like this one because it is frozen, requiring less preservatives, and it has plenty of the collagen that makes bone broth so good for you! Bone broth is also super easy to make! There are a ton of great recipes out there, like this one from βThe Forked Spoon.β
Congee supports the Spleen, which in Chinese Medicine is the main organ associated with digestion. When your Spleen is weak, it can lead to difficulty digesting with symptoms like gas, bloating, abdominal pain, poor appetite, and loose stools; as well as fatigue, weight gain, and so much more. Considering that so much of our health starts in our digestion, this neutral dish can be supportive for just about any condition! Cooking the rice for a long time breaks it down so that it is really easy to digest. Contrary to some standards of Western nutrition, Chinese Medicine believes that we should not overtax our digestion - by eating easy to digest foods, we can strengthen weak digestive systems. If we then add in healing herbs and foods, a simple breakfast can become medicine.
You can make congee sweet or savory. Sweet congee can be prepared similarly to oatmeal. If this is your intention, I suggest cooking it in water or a nondairy milk instead of broth. I personally prefer to make it savory and top it with leftover veggies, a soft boiled egg, and a drizzle of coconut aminos and sesame oil. Check out the recipe below!
Recipe:
Ingredients:
1 cup rice
10 cups water or bone broth
optional (these will be removed so no need to finely chop):
1 large carrot, chopped in a few large pieces
2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
1 half an onion
ginger (highly recommended - very supportive to the digestive system)
chinese herbs:
da zao (Chinese red dates - strengthens qi and blood)
huang qi (Astragalus - boosts your qi)
dang gui (Angelica root - nourishes the blood)
toppings (choose as many as you like)
sweet version
walnuts (good for the brain)/pecans
berries/banana
goji berries (another Chinese herb - good for nourishing blood)
honey/maple syrup
savory version
leftover meat
eggs cooked to your preference
sesame seeds
green onions
coconut aminos
sesame oil
everything bagel seasoning
spinach/kale/mushrooms
any leftover veggies you might like!
Instructions:
Combine rice, water, nondairy milk (if making the sweet version) or bone broth, and other optional ingredients in a slow cooker. Cook on low for 10-12 hours.
When finished cooking, remove optional ingredients
Place congee in a bowl and add desired toppings.
Enjoy!