This is a pretty loose interpretation of congee, a brothy 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. 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 virtues of all the herbs & roots in this recipe will be discussed.

There are a lot of ingredients in my version here because I like flavor bombs. And I like to get in there & ingest liver & kidney tonics wherever I can. This is not meant to bar entry from preparation—if you don’t have some of these less common ingredients on hand, change anything you like, just get in the kitchen & make your medicine!

The Broth (cont’d)

1 tbsp crushed juniper berries

2 tbsp burdock root (chunks)

2 tbsp dandelion root (chunks)

2 tbsp crushed juniper berries

These all go in a tea ball or teabag to be removed from the broth.

Total Time for 45 mins

* Soak Rice over night

*Suntan Mushrooms 30 mins to 3 hrs

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