Rice Congee
Have you ever heard of Congee? It's a super healthy Asian breakfast soup from Ayurveda and TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) kitchens with a tradition going back thousands of years. Congee strengthens the Qi, the life force. It doesn't employ our digestion at all because the rice is boiled for hours with ten times its weight in water until it literally falls apart. Congee actually means "water rice".
Congee is a staple of Chinese cuisine, is usually enjoyed in the morning and is considered therapeutic. It is mild, easy to digest and nutritious, its effect is detoxing, it supports the Qi and balances the gastric juices. Congee supplies you with energy, fills you up and will even improve your looks. You're essentially drinking pure rice stock and you can make it with any type of rice. It's so mild, even infants can digest it and is also extremely beneficial for the elderly or the sick - if you can't digest solids, Congee is the perfect meal for you. It also works during fasts or if you want to detox and shed some pounds.
In my last post, I told you about my newest acquisition, the AND Soy food processor. You can read all about it here. This magic soup machine can also make Congee, and it'll be ready in only 30 minutes.
You can also modify the recipe and use less traditional grains like quinoa, for example. You can batch cook, replace the veggies with sweet ingredients and add goji berries, honey, nuts and butter. I modified my Congee a little as well - I garnished a chicken Congee with swiss chard, pomegranate seeds, a soft-boiled egg, coriander and soy sauce. Enjoy!
Rice Congee
2 Portions
Ingredients:
Ingredients for Congee using AND Soy:
- 2 measuring cups medium-grain rice
- 100g carrots
- 50g chicken breast
- 1 TBSP olive oil or rapeseed oil
- 1 tsp salt
Further ingredients for garnish:
150g brown button mushrooms
1/2 swiss chard
2 spring onions
1/2 pomegranate
1 lime
1/2 bunch coriander
2 eggs
1-2 chilli peppers
1-2 tsp Sambal Oelek to taste
Preparation:
- Rinse the rice well.
- Peel and cube the carrots Karotten.
- Wash the chicken fillets and dice into small pieces.
- Put everything in the mixer.
- Fill up with cold water up to anywhere between the two markings.
- Choose programme 3 and start.
- In the meantime, fry the swiss chard and the quartered mushrooms in a pan with a little sesame oil and season with salt and pepper. Boil the eggs until they're soft, then peel them. Deseed the pomegranate. Rinse and finely slice the chilli peppers. Finely slice the spring onions.
- Serve the rice congee with the spring onions, chilli, pomegranate seeds, mushrooms, swiss chard, lime, the soft-boiled egg, some Sambal Oelek and freshly chopped coriander.
