鱼糙米粥 (Fish Brown Rice Congee)

Welcome to our weekly Foodie Friday link up! I’m linking up with Montana from Pretty Lil Mudder, Annmarie from the Fit Foodie Mama, Emily from Whatever Floats Your Oats, Esther from Chocolate Runner Girl, and Cassandra from Powered By Bling, to create awesome healthy recipes each week! Today’s theme = Scrumptious Soups!

粥 (or congee; pronounced “jook/jeuk” in Cantonese) is a type of rice porridge that’s popular in a bunch of Asian countries. It can be very plain (made with just rice + water) so that it can be paired with more flavorful dishes, or it can be served on its own with meat and other flavorings.

To be honest, I’m actually not even entirely sure if (“jook,” or congee) is considered to be soup, but it has a soup-like consistency (kindasorta), so I”m just going to roll with it.

But why not just make a soup, Farrah?

Why, I’m glad you ask!

Back in July of 2012, my mom was afraid I would starve to death while I was in medical school, so we made a stop at Costco while we were in North Carolina visiting my cousins, and…let’s just say that I still have a whole lot of rice left. (I feel like I barely put a dent in it.)

I also wanted to check out the porridge function on my first-world rice cooker (tis an affiliate link). Congee is my mom’s favorite, and may well be one of the only dishes that she will/can cook, but I rarely have it. I don’t dislike it, by any means, but I guess I’m usually too lazy. I rarely (if ever) have the time to sit by something to watch it cook. ._.

Also, my rice cooker has a “porridge” function, and I wanted to see if I could make it with brown rice.

Challenge accepted!

It would look infinitely better with green onions to garnish, but I never, ever have those on hand, so…here we are. This is packed with protein, and perfect for warming up your soul, especially when you’re sick (which I currently am not, thankfully, but it’s really only a matter of time!). This consistency is actually a little more watery than I’d prefer, but you can always adjust accordingly!

鱼糙米粥 (Fish Brown Rice Congee)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup brown rice*
• enough water to fill it up to the “porridge” mark*
• 2 tilapia fillets, cut into 1-inch bite-sized pieces
• 4 oz. crimini, shiitake + oyster mushroom blend
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 eggs
• drizzle of oyster sauce (optional)
• green onion, sliced (for garnish; optional)
• white pepper (optional)
• fresh ginger, sliced (optional)

Instructions:

(If you have a fancy-schmancy rice cooker)

1. Rinse the rice and fill it with water up to the “porridge” mark. Set it on “porridge” and let it do its thing. After one cycle, open it up, add another 2-3 cups of water and give it a quick stir with a wooden spatula and let it run one more cycle on the “porridge” setting. While that’s cooking, marinate the fish in a bowl with the sesame oil, soy sauce, ground ginger, and fish sauce.
2. After the second “porridge” cycle, add the fish into the rice cooker and give it a quick stir. Put it on the “steam” function for 20 minutes.
3. After 20 minutes, open it up again. Add the mushrooms and crack 2 eggs over the top. Let the eggs cook for 3-5 minutes (to desired consistency) and serve!

*(If you don’t have a rice cooker)

1. Use 1 cup of rice per 10 cups of water (can also use a couple cups of vegetable/chicken broth in lieu of water). Put the rice and water into a large pot or Dutch oven and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer, stirring occasionally, or until rice has broken down and the texture is to your desired consistency. (If it gets too thick, just stir in some more water.) While it’s cooking marinate the fish in a bowl with the sesame oil, soy sauce, ground ginger and fish sauce (~30 minutes).
3. Add the fish to the pot and let it cook for another 10 minutes (til just about cooked through).
4. Crack 2 eggs into the pot and let cook for 3-5 minutes.

End-of-Week-ish Recap!

• Want to spice up your breakfast? Try making this Apple Pie Oatmeal! :]
• I’m back from my cruise and just started my ER rotation this week!
• The Recipe ReDux theme this month is on “spooky spices”–check out this recipe for Garam Masala Green Beans!
• …I almost passed out on my very first shift (and the very first case) in ER because I was pretty dehydrated…but I managed to talk myself out of it?! Oh, the powers of self-talk…

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Interested in getting to know more about any of your super-awesome co-hosts? :]

• Farrah | blog | facebook | instagram | pinterest | twitter | bloglovin’
• Montana | blog | facebook | instagram | pinterest | twitter | bloglovin’
• Annmarie | blog | facebook | twitter | instagram | pinterest | bloglovin’
• Emily | blog | instagram | pinterest | twitter | bloglovin’
• Esther | blog | facebook | instagram | pinterest | twitter | bloglovin’
• Cassandra | blog | facebook | instagram | pinterest | twitter | bloglovin’

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Next week’s theme is Healthy Halloween Treats!