Congee

Updated: Feb 22

Transforming your health with Congee

The basic Chinese Medicinal theory:

As a resource to many of my patients, I am sharing a version of a congee recipe I learned while studying Food Energetics with Andrew Sterman. Although the recipe is fairly similar to most found anywhere on-line, I prefer sharing this particular take as a form of food therapy medicine.

By making and eating Congee, one is restoring health through a deep level of hydration. The grains of rice act as a time capsule of hydration, slowly releasing their fluids as they move through your digestive system, throughout the day. It is widely used across Asia to treat and manage various conditions and to maintain a healthy state of being. Congee is considered to be a protective and restorative food because of how easy it is to digest and how gently it nourishes at the yin level (the level of our thick fluids- think hormones).

Congee is best enjoyed when cooked and eaten consciously.

Congee served with a poached egg, scallions, ginger, organic Tamari, toasted sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and a drizzle of sesame oil.

Basic Congee Recipe

1 cup medium or long grain white rice

In a large saucepan, toast the rice with a high-heat oil, like avocado or coconut oil (just enough to lightly coat each grain of rice) and a pinch of salt on high heat for 1-3 minutes (the salt is very important here, choose a salt that makes you happy, like Pink Himalayan Salt or Celtic Sea Salt )

Still using high heat, begin to add 1 cup of water to the rice at a time, allowing the water to almost completely absorb before adding another cup of water; risotto method

Continue this until the “First Starch” appears (see picture). This usually occurs by the 4th or 5th cup of water.

Then add about 4-5 cups more water all at once. (You will have added 9-12 cups of water in total from start to finish.