Brown Rice Slow Cooker Congee Recipe

Comfort. Umami. Complex.

These are the words that come to mind when we tuck into a spoon of steaming congee. Porridge.blog has written about congee before. Our friend Christina Ling wrote an amazing essay about Cantonese Congee shops in Hong Kong— it was an ode to the significance of congee, or jook, as a food from her Chinese-American upbringing. Congee is eaten all over Asia, and there are many different ways to make it. Here is a recipe that we made recently and enjoyed a lot. It’s easy to make and deliciously cozy for fall mornings. It’s also an easy soup to eat if you’re feeling under the weather – though porridge.blog would like to remind everyone to get their flu shots.

Brown Rice Slow Cooker Congee Recipe

INGREDIENTS

For the congee:

7 cups water
1 1/4 cup whole grain (sprouted) brown rice*
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp fresh miso paste
2″ knob of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into 4-6 pieces
splash of soy sauce or tamari

For serving

1/4 head green cabbage, julienned
Poached eggs
Sesame oil
1 bunch green onions, diced
White or black Sesame seeds
White or black freshly grated pepper
Red wine vinegar
Chinese chili oil

INSTRUCTIONS

Mix congee ingredients in a slow cooker. Stir the miso into the water until dissolved. Cook 5-6 hours on high, 7-10 on low. Add more water to achieve desired texture, or if the congee starts to stick to the pot and caramelize.
When you’re ready to eat your congee, add cabbage to a frying pan with ~1.5 tbsp sesame oil, and a big pinch of salt. Saute 3-5 minutes on medium heat but do not stir! After you have achieved a layer of caramelization, flip the cabbage over. Cook for another 10 minutes on medium high heat until cabbage is nice and soft. Remove from heat and salt to taste.
While your cabbage is cooking, poach some eggs!
Scoop a big glop of congee into your bowl. We recommend adding pepper and a thin drizzle of sesame oil directly to the congee before you top with egg, cabbage, and other seasonings. There is no right way to top a congee, and that’s what makes it fun! Go forth and play with your palate. We wish you the dreamiest bowl of complex umami comfort food.

*A funny note about our rice. We buy our rice from the Asian grocery store. Our congee was made out of a Japanese brand of whole grain sprouted brown rice, called “Koshihikari GABA RICE.” It is super tasty, but the packaging is perhaps most extraordinary: what is a GABA? The back of the bag says that “GABA (gamma amino butyric acid) is an amino acid found in large quantities in GABA Sprouted Brown Rice. GABA also exitsts in people and works as a neurotransmitter with the following benefits:”

A quick WebMD search did back up the rice’s claims: GABA is a neurotransmitter that some people take as a supplement in order to boost mood, calm anxiety, and regulate muscle sensitivity. Though WebMD claims that GABA does not occur naturally in food, the rice bag says that GABA is created by sprouting brown rice. Maybe don’t eat when pregnant?