Congee with coriander and sliced steak

Posted by petra08 on March 4, 2016 · 18 Comments 

A friend of mine took me to a, what she called, a proper dim sum meal. I had no input when it came to ordering and when a bowl of congee was placed in front of me I had no idea what this was.

It turns out it is a rice porridge, eaten for breakfast or lunch and it seems to be an Asian mothers equivalent of our chicken and noodle soup when you are feeling a bit under the weather.

It is a bowl of comfort and with rice as the base alone it is very plain but it has potential. I can eat bowls of it.

The other day I had a Chinese takeaway  and there was some rice left over. Not really enough to make anything but I didn’t have the heart to throw it out so it was covered and placed in the fridge. The following day I was determined to make something useful out of it and thought of congee. You basically need a little rice and a lot of water, I thought this would be ideal.

 

The trick with congee is what you serve with it as it takes up flavour and I was so happy with the result I wanted to share it. I cooked mine in the oven, great for when you are busy with other things.

For flavour I didn’t have any cold meat but the butcher had a very small piece of skirt steak that would be perfect but any fish or meat that you have at hand will work or keep it vegetarian/vegan.

 

Ginger congee with sliced steak

preparation time 5 minutes 

cooking time 2 hours 

oven 140C or 285F

serves 2 

Ingredients

• 1 dl or 1/2 cup cooked rice (use slightly less if using uncooked rice)
• 8 dl or 4 cups of chicken stock
• 8 dl or 4 cups of water
• 1 piece of fresh ginger (I like it so I used quite a large piece), peeled and cut fine julienne (thin match sticks)
• 4 mushrooms, thinly sliced

Garnish

• thin sliced steak
• coriander/cilantro
• thinly sliced spring onion
• a pinch of sea salt

Place the rice, chicken stock, water and ginger in an oven proof pan with a lid. Bring to a boil, put the lid on and place in a hot oven. Leave for an hour and then add the  thinly sliced mushrooms and leave for another hour.

 

Congee on it’s own doesn’t look that great, it tastes good but a few herbs will liven it up.

 

When the congee is cooked quickly pan fry the steak and cut it in thin slices once rested. add the coriander, spring onion, sliced steak and finish with a pinch of sea salt and serve.

 

 

 

One of the recipes I read called for adding a large piece of ginger and then to remove it but I love the flavour of ginger and this is why I cut it up thinly and it added lots of flavour and went very well with the beef.

I am not sure why but I never realised how easy congee is to make and this was a perfect way to actually transform leftover rice into a whole new, tasty and very comforting dish.

 

It might seem strange to bring a rice porridge to Fiesta Friday but it is so easy and delicious I couldn’t help myself! Some dishes needs to be shared. Hosted by the lovely and talented Angie and co hosted by Josette, The Brook Cook, and Lily, The Little Sweet Baker, both super talented, head over and have a look at their blogs but be warned, it will make you hungry!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Filed under Allotment/Veg, Beef, Herbs, Main course, Meat, Mushroom, Recipe, Rice, Side dish, Spring onion, Starter · Tagged with Congee, ginger congee, skirt steak