Mushroom Congee, the herbalist’s way

Congee is a nutritive rice preparation spanning cultures & continents. It’s always revered as a convalescent food to be relied upon during acute ailments & leaned on in times of perceived immune threat—like cold season & the changes of all seasons. It is warming, grounding & easy on the digestion. It’s often eaten in the morning & will often feature sweet & warming fruits & cinnamon. I followed Dad’s Authentic Congee to be sure that the texture is authentic, if the ingredients are skewed more toward the herbalist’s path. It’s conventional in all the right ways!

This recipe is savory. We can eat it in the morning, but it would fit more typically in the lunch or dinner categories.

That essential broth part of congee is where herbal medicine can really shine! And here, I incorporate the usual suspects of ginger, garlic & pepper…but I got to include juniper berries, fresh turmeric, burdock & dandelion roots as well.

The Broth

8 cups water

1 cup jasmine rice

2 large fingers of ginger

2 fingers of fresh turmeric

2 garlic cloves (minced)

1/2 onion (sliced & diced)

1 serrano pepper (sliced & diced small)

1/2 jalapeño pepper (sliced & diced small)

The herbs below all go in a tea ball or teabag to be removed from the broth.

1 tbsp crushed juniper berries

2 tbsp burdock root (chunks)

2 tbsp dandelion root (chunks)

The Mushrooms

6-8 oz oyster

6-8 oz shitake

6-8 oz portobello

1 tbsp miso paste

1/4 cup peanut sauce

2 tsp tamari sauce

2 tbsp corn starch

Toppings

Cilantro

Jalapeno

pumpkin seeds

pistachios

toasted black sesame seeds