Mum’s heartwarming Vegetarian Congee will soothe your soul! It starts with roasting the rice grains until fragrant before they get simmered in an easy homemade vegetable stock. This recipe is kid friendly and has no added sugar because it gets naturally sweetened by the vegetables.
If rice porridge is your type of comfort food, try a beef, chicken, fish, century egg or offal version!
Nutritious and delicious
For me, comfort food doesn’t just come in the form of soups or slow cooked wings. It also comes in family-sized pots and gets served in rice bowls. Mum’s heartwarming Vegetarian Congee falls right under those categories!
There’s something magical about the way she brings recipes to life in the kitchen. With complete grace and finesse, Mum will turn a bag of simple vegetables into an extraordinary meal. Sometimes it’s using the help of a rice cooker and other times with a pan sizzling hot with aromatics.
But this time, she simmered rice porridge loaded to the brim with vegetables and mushrooms. The naturally sweet broth was cooked into the rice over low heat while the smokiness from the toasted grains infused into the soup.
As everything bubbled away, I KNEW there’d be no need for heavy seasoning. Mum believes in keeping food as natural as possible, so she kept her nutrients high and added preservatives low.
That’s why I love eating her food. The comfort in Mum’s meatless meals means two things – tasty balanced food and complete trust in the health benefits!
Why this recipe works
- Roasting the rice grains adds a smoky aroma as a base for Mum’s Vegetarian Congee.
- Using assorted vegetables and mushrooms keeps the flavor naturally sweet with no added preservatives or sugars.
- Cutting the ingredients into small chunks helps them soften faster and makes it kid-friendly.
What you’ll need
For the congee
About the ingredients
We use brown rice for Mum’s Vegetarian Congee, but you can use whichever you like. Just keep in mind that different types have different cooking times.
Mum buys all the meatless toppings from our local vegan shop in the frozen section. They’re all optional and can be easily substituted for other ingredients depending on your preference and what’s available to you.
For the seasoning
About the fish sauce
There are many options for a vegan fish sauce, but the one Mum uses is from the brand Red Lotus.
How to make this recipe
Dry roast the rice grains in a pan on low heat for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Note: Brown rice is darker than white rice, so when it starts to turn golden, leave it for a minute longer because it won’t be as golden as it could have been if it had been white rice.
Chop the Chinese cabbage into small pieces and cube the carrots, roughly 1cm (0.4″) wide.
Bring the water to a boil in a pot and add the carrots and Chinese cabbage ribs (the hard part of the vegetable).
Rinse the vegetarian abalones and add them into the pot.
Season the broth with the vegetable stock powder, fish sauce and salt. Let it simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes.
Chop the king oyster and lion’s mane mushrooms and burdock 1cm (0.4″) wide, bring the pot to a boil and add them in along with the roasted rice.
Cube the vegetarian ham. When the liquid begins boiling, add the remaining Chinese cabbage and ham in.
Let it simmer for 15 minutes, then take the vegetarian abalones out and dice them into cubes. Put them back into the pot and stir through.
Serve the Vegetarian Congee immediately as is!
Recipe FAQs
If the grains still have a bite to them, let it simmer for longer and check every 15 minutes. You will also need to top up on the water if there’s too little and the congee gets too thick.
Rice tends to stick to the bottom when it’s cooked in water and will burn if stuck for a long time. Make sure to keep stirring every 10-15 minutes to prevent this from happening.
Tips for the best results
- Use sweet vegetables. Mum does this for stocks when she makes her Bún Bò Huế Chay (Vegetarian Spicy Noodle Soup), Bún Riêu Chay (Vegetarian Tomato Noodle Soup) and Mushroom and Chinese Cabbage Soup so that the flavor is naturally sweet and needs no extra sugar.
- Use fresh ingredients. While frozen vegetables are easily available, using fresh ones will ensure maximum freshness, nutrients and flavor.
- Garnish with freshly ground pepper. A little will go a long way to make this Vegetarian Congee taste warmer!
What to serve it with
- Make Chả Giò Chay (Vegetarian Spring Rolls) ahead of time and freeze them so you can have freshly fried Spring Rolls before every meal. Alternatively, get wrapping with Mum’s fresh Gỏi Cuốn Chay (Vegetarian Rice Paper Rolls).
- Add an aromatic kick with this easy Lemongrass Chili Tofu (Đậu Hũ Chiên Sả Ớt).
- Braised Bean Curd with Mushrooms will complement the soothing flavors of Mum’s Vegetarian Congee.
- Finish the meal off with a refreshing Papaya and Snow Fungus Dessert Soup served hot or cold!
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Vegetarian Congee
Ingredients
- 2 US cup brown rice (or whichever grain you prefer)
- 400 g / 0.9 lb king oyster mushroom
- 2 vegan abalone
- 500 g / 1.1 lb Chinese burdock
- 100 g / 0.22 lb lion's mane mushroom
- 115 g / 0.25 lb vegetarian ham
- 1 kg / 2.2 lb Chinese cabbage
- 3 carrots
- 1 1/2 tbsp salt (or to taste)
- 2 1/2 tbsp vegan fish sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp vegetable stock powder
- 5 L / 21.1 US cup water
Instructions
- Dry roast the rice grains in a pan on low heat for 10 minutes or until golden brown.Note: Brown rice is darker than white rice, so when it starts to turn golden, leave it for a minute longer because it won't be as golden as what it could have been if it had been white rice.
- Chop the Chinese cabbage into small pieces and cube the carrots, roughly 1cm (0.4") wide.
- Bring the water to a boil in a pot and add the carrots and Chinese cabbage ribs (the hard part of the vegetable).
- Rinse the vegetarian abalones and add them into the pot.
- Season the broth with the vegetable stock powder, fish sauce and salt. Let it simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes.
- Chop the king oyster and lion's mane mushrooms and burdock 1cm (0.4") wide, bring the pot to a boil and add them in along with the roasted rice.
- Cube the vegetarian ham. When the liquid begins boiling, add the remaining Chinese cabbage and ham in.
- Let it simmer for 15 minutes, then take the vegetarian abalones out and dice them into cubes. Put them back into the pot and stir through.
- Serve the Vegetarian Congee immediately as is!
Notes
- Use sweet vegetables. Mum does this for stocks so that the flavor is naturally sweet and needs no extra sugar.
- Use fresh ingredients. While frozen vegetables are easily available, using fresh ones will ensure maximum freshness, nutrients and flavor.
- Garnish with freshly ground pepper. A little will go a long way to make this Vegetarian Congee taste warmer.
- We use brown rice for this recipe, but you can use whichever you like. Just keep in mind that different types have different cooking times.
- Mum buys all the meatless toppings from our local vegan shop in the frozen section. They're all optional and can be easily substituted for other ingredients depending on your preference and what's available to you.
- There are many options for a vegan fish sauce, but the one Mum uses is from the brand Red Lotus.
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