This recipe uses vegetable broth. You can substitute it with chicken broth, seafood broth, or any other broth of your liking. I typically prefer a
Recipe by Lisa Lin on March 12, 2019
Prep time: PT30M
Cook time: PT80M
Total time: PT110M
Rating
5 stars (53 reviews)
Keywords
chinese rice porridge, congee, jook
Ingredients
1/4 cup dried shrimp
2 tablespoons dried scallops
2 tablespoons safflower oil (any oil works)
2 tablespoons minced ginger
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1/4 pound shiitake mushrooms (sliced into 1/4-inch thickness)
1 cup jasmine rice
6 cups vegetable broth
3 cups water
1 teaspoon salt (add more to taste)
sliced scallions
fried shallots
fried dough sticks (油條/油炸鬼)
chili oil
Categories
Asian Food
Cuisine
Chinese
Steps
Rinse the dried shrimp and dried scallops with water. Then, place them in a bowl and soak with 2/3 cup of water for 30 minutes. The shrimp and scallops should have plumped up a little. You can drain the water once you’re done soaking or save it. I usually save the water and use it to cook the porridge.
Rinse the rice once and drain the water.
Heat the oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Add the minced ginger and garlic and cook for 30 seconds, until they start to become fragrant. Add the rehydrated shrimp and scallops to the pot. Use the tip of a wooden spoon or spatula to break the scallops apart. This does not need to be too precise. Add the mushrooms and rice, and sauté for another minute.
Carefully pour the broth and water into the pot. Sprinkle in the salt and stir. Bring the broth to a boil, uncovered. Then, turn the heat to low and cover the pot. I usually transfer the pot to a smaller burner so the congee cooks at very low heat. Let the congee simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally.
After an hour, check the congee to see if the consistency is to your liking. I like to leave the pot uncovered for 15 minutes so that the porridge cools and thickens. If you notice a small film form on the top of the congee, just stir everything before serving. Taste the congee and add more salt if necessary.
Serve the congee in bowls. Have sliced scallions, fried shallots, chili oil, and sliced fried dough sticks on the side for topping.
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 286 kcal
Carbohydrates: 44.7 g
Protein: 11.4 g
Fat: 6.4 g
Saturated Fat: 1 g
Cholesterol: 34 mg
Sodium: 1765 mg
Sugar: 2.4 g
Reviews
Rod Kelynack on 2026-07-14 (5 stars): Great recipe
Shirley E Lee on 2025-07-13 (5 stars): Perfect, easy directions!
Jim on 2025-03-02 (5 stars): I eat congee from a local dim sum restaurant near my job in NYC. We've been making a variation of this with oats for years, but this is the first time I tried this with rice. I added some dried pork, scallions, and sriracha. I cooked it with dried shitakes and they had a great meat like texture. This was pretty perfect for a cold morning.
Lili on 2024-08-21 (5 stars): My daughter loves this and will eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner! I do cheat with the mushrooms and reconstitute some dried mushrooms I get at Costco. The plus is that I don't ever have to worry about having mushrooms available.
Mhia on 2024-06-13 (5 stars): Hello Lisa,
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! My congee is perfect! However, I made few changes since I have a lot of beef broth and want to get rid of it, I use beef broth instead and it still taste really good! I truly appreciate this recipe because quite honestly, I tried several in the past year and none met how I want my congee to turn out to be. Now, I'm hoping you have a recipe for fried dough sticks? because I really miss that! I will try to make it next time. Thank you so much. All the best!
New follower.
Maria Beard on 2023-12-28 (5 stars): I discovered congee on the Norwegian cruise we just took this month. It was on the breakfast buffet,near other unique ethnic foods(Marsala,tandoori fish, eggplant and okra dishes). We soon came to prefer taking most of our meals here(as did many of the crew from the cruise in uniform). The chefs were amazing..as were the staff members who told me their family recipes for congee.
Lynn A. on 2023-06-23 (5 stars): Hi Lisa,
I have never made Congee, and my question to myself is “Why?”. It was so savory, satisfying and a comfort food. I followed your recipe exactly, and even found the fried dough. I used broken jasmine rice. I will definitely make it again and again. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
