Instant Pot Congee

Hello! I finally completed the February dim sum dish recipe for my 12 Months of Dim Sum Project. Man, that crappy week in mid-February really set me back because it’s March now! In January, I shared my Vegan Siomai recipe and now I am sharing with you my Instant Pot Vegan Congee Recipe. Congee is also known as “Jook”.

I’ve always called this dish Congee based on my experiences in the Philippines and Hong Kong but almost everyone else I know here in the states calls congee specifically Jook or Zhōu. There are also so many regional versions of this dish that I can’t list here and keep this narrative at a reasonable length. But, of course, I have to mention there is indeed a Filipino version called “lugaw” and that it is, of course, the version of congee I ate the most growing up.

When Eloise was a baby (or maybe when I was heavily pregnant?), I ordered an Instant Pot but was so overwhelmed that I never unboxed it. I felt awful and so intimidated just even looking at the box that I eventually sent it back for a refund. Then the summer after that, a box was delivered to my house. I opened it and saw what was inside and gasped, “Oh…no!!!!”

The Instant Pot was back. A couple of good friends from Oakland had pitched in and sent me one for my birthday as a surprise. They hadn’t known that I’d already purchased it before and sent it back. Or maybe they did and wanted to push me into doing something I wanted to do? They were always encouraging.

Like before I was scared to use it. I think it took at least a month until finally I gathered the courage to actually sit down and learn how to use it. Once I got to the hang of it, it became my favorite method of cooking. Man, I’m a busy lady! This was awesome and I can’t thank my friends enough for essentially making me face my fears at a time when I felt like I could barely function.

This vegan congee recipe is ridiculous easy and convenient as it’s made in the Instant Pot and releases steam naturally. So it really is one of those “set it and forget it” type of meals. Gosh, I hope that isn’t a protected tagline. This is also a dish you can make days in advance and reheat just by adding water to your desired consistency and, of course, seasoning to taste.

Congee is a Chinese rice porridge dish that can be bland or incredibly rich with various flavors depending on what you add. Many people also tend to eat congee they are sick. Like how many Americans eat chicken soup. I’m American too but, obviously, I like congee more. I also think it’s easier to eat because of its thicker consistency.

However, Congee isn’t only a dish for when people are sick. It is also served as a breakfast dish at dim sum, usually with youtiao (Chinese donut).

For this vegan congee, we are using a very small amount of ingredients: Garlic and ginger for the aromatics, mushroom for umami flavor and, my favorite, Jasmine rice. Glutinous rice can be used for this dish as well but as you know from my Vegan Champorado without Glutinous Rice Recipe, I love my Jasmine rice! Seasoning could be either salt or soy sauce.

As for the consistency of the congee, I like it to be watery at first because it thickens so quickly. So the ratio of rice to water in cups I use is 1:10.

For ease and less compost, the ginger ends up being rinsed well and then diced without peeling. Correct, no peeling. Simple right? The garlic is also only peeled and roughly chopped. Both aromatics are cooked for two minutes at the most before the mushrooms are added for another two minutes of cooking. Then, quickly after that, the rice is mixed in and coated with the garlic ginger oil before everything is mixed and “finally” cooking in the Instant Pot on porridge mode.

The prep and start of the cooking process is that quick. Now we just wait about an hour. It takes about 15-20 minutes for the pressure to build, 20 minutes for the vegan congee to cook in porridge mode and, finally, up to half an hour for the steam to release naturally before removing the lid and serving.

I also have optional add-ins written in the recipe that transform the dish from a simple congee to a flavor-packed bowl of rich and silky goodness. So while the vegan congee is cooking, I prepare my toppings towards the end. Again, this is optional.

This time I chose cilantro and chili oil but I also use scallions or Chinese chives at other times.

Look at that thick and savory dish! I think I got a little excited when taking this photo as you can see! I barely combined this dish in my bowl because I wanted bursts of flavor.

It was perfect for me.

This is a pretty versatile dish so anyone can omit the ingredients they don’t want on that specific day and add whatever they’d like. Like I stated above, I’d just nix everything except for the rice, water and maybe a tiny bit of salt if I were under the weather.

Hope you enjoy this recipe and find this vegan congee as delicious and comforting as I do.

12 Months of Dim Sum Recipes:

January 2021: Vegan Siomai

February 2021: Instant Pot Congee

March 2021: Vegan Potstickers with Ginger Scallion Tofu

April 2021: Crispy Golden Fried Tofu

May 2021: Toasted Cumin Scallion Pancakes

June 2021: Gluten-Free Asian Dipping Sauce

July 2021: Sweet Red Bean Paste and Perfectly Golden Sesame Balls

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