The Art of Being a Creative Vegetarian No-Cook: Peanut and Lotus Root Congee

The Art of Being a Creative Vegetarian No-Cook! Let me share a little secret here, how to enjoy a piping hot Peanut and Lotus Root Congee, if you can’t find any Vegetarian Eatery offering this dish!

Very Simple. The trick is to get (take away) Peanut and Lotus Root Soup from a Vegetarian Stall. Next, in your own kitchen, take out ½ rice cup of washed and frozen rice grain. Throw the soup and rice grain into a claypot,bring to a boil and simmer for 10 – 15 minutes.

When the congee is ready, just garnish with some fresh coriander which is optional. Add pepper if desired.

What’s next ?- Eat directly from the claypot of course (save the task of washing another bowl, be nice to Mother Earth) ...

Do you need to be an expert in cooking? No, Everybody, even young kids can do this simple task! It is similar to cooking instant congee!

So, next time, if you find a stall that sell palatable Peanut and Lotus Root Soup, get some home and frozen it till you need to whip up a quick meal or when a cold or sore throat attack.

I got mine from Eight Immortals @ Causeway Point (Woodlands) – Horizon Food Mall, Level 5 @ S$3 for a big bowl.

Vegetarian "Century Egg" Congee (Version 2)

When I first created the Veg*n Century Egg Congee (using Avocado & Shiitake Mushroom to replace century egg) in 2007, I have thought of using Grass Jelly (Chin Chow) instead of shitake mushroom. Finally, gave it a try some time back.

It is even much easier, just cook some plain congee with vegetable stock or season with mushroom bouillon. Prior to serving, adding the avocado dices and grass jelly! That’s it!

Frozen the rice grain (washed) for few hours in the freezer before cooking the congee, it helps to speed up the cooking time and all you need is about 15 – 20 minutes.

Kelps and Red Dates Congee

Real simple and hassle free …. Ever since, my ex-colleague taught me how to make congee with frozen rice grain, I find cooking congee even much easier and faster. There is always some frozen rice grain in my freezer, just in case, I want to cook something easy and quick.

Often, I heard that non-vegetarian can’t really go vegetarian even if they really wish too, because they find that their body can’t take ‘coolness’ from eating vegetables. Well, being a vegetarian does not mean we eat only vegetable, there are many other ingredients that not only add colour but also nutrition to our diet.

If the body nature belongs to the ‘cool’ type like me, I would add more ginger, chilli and ingredients that are warm in nature to cook my dishes. For this recipe, I used ginger and red dates which are warm in nature to offset the ‘coolness’. So, if your body belongs to those ‘heaty’ types, just omit the red dates and use lesser ginger. Red dates improve the ‘Qi’ and boost blood circulation and rich in iron too.

Preparation: 5 mins Cooking time: 20 mins, plus 2 ½ hours standing time

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g rice, washed and drained
° 750ml water
° 2 slices ginger
° 10 kelps in knot
° 6 red seedless red dates

Method
1. Wash the rice and drain well (not too dry). Put the rice in a plastic or metal container and freeze it for 2 – 2 ½ hours in the refrigerator.
2. Remove from the freezer and add 250ml water to it and leave to stand for 5 minutes.
3. Pour into the rice, ginger, kelps and red dates into a claypot or pot. Add the remaining water and bring to a boil. Simmer for another 15 minutes or until the congee is soft. If it is too thick, just add some water.
4. Ladle the congee into individual serving bowls and serve hot.

Quick Congee!

Plain congee garnish with carrot shreds & coriander leaves

Congee with enoki, carrot & coriander

During the recent lunch meet up with an ex colleague - Carolyn, she shared a very good idea that she learnt from a cooking video – how to shorten the cooking time for congee. I gave it a try, it works and therefore I did it again with the steps taken down. It is 10 minutes faster than my usual way of cooking congee. So, no worry about making Baby porridge, it becomes as easy as ABC. The secret is to breakdown the fiber of the rice gain by freezing it. So, you can wash the rice, clashed them if desired and put them in the freezer. Any time that you like to have a quick congee, just removed from freezer and within 20 minutes, a hot bowl of congee is there waiting for you. If you don’t want it that mushy, shorten the cooking time a little.

If you prefer it thinner, just add more water. It can be served with a variety of accompaniments, such as pickled turnips, salted peanuts, mustard greens etc. The other option that I did is adding enoki mushroom, carrot shreds, coriander leaves prior to remove from the heat. And season to taste with salt, light soy sauce and sesame oil.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 20 mins, plus 2 ½ hrs standing time

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g rice, washed and drained
° 750ml water
° 2 slices ginger (optional)

Method
1. Wash the rice and drain well. Put the rice in a plastic or metal container and freeze it for 2 – 2 ½ hours in the refrigerator.
2. Remove from the freezer and add 250ml water to it and leave to stand for 5 minutes.
3. Pour into the rice and ginger into a claypot or pot. Add the remaining water and bring to a boil. Simmer for another 15 minutes or until the congee is soft. If it is too thick, just add some water.
4. Ladle the congee into individual serving bowls and serve hot.

“Pork” Congee

Vegetarian Minced Meatless

Cooking congee with minced pork is a very common congee. I found that the Vegetarian minced meatless had the minced meat texture and therefore use it to cook this vegetarian minced pork congee. I was looking for vegetarian mushroom but the vegetarian shops offer me this vegetarian minced meatless which consists textured soy bean protein, soya bean, wheat flour, mushroom steam, vegetable oil and vegetarian seasoning.

Preparation: 5 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins, plus 30 mins standing time

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g rice, washed and drained
° 1.2 litres water
° 3 thin slices ginger, finely shredded
° 100g vegetarian minced meatless, thawed
° salt, to taste
° sesame oil, to taste
° pepper, to taste
° a small handful fresh coriander leaves, for garnish

Method
1. Put the rice and water in a claypot or pot. Let it stands for 1 hour or more, if desired.
2. Bring the congee to a boil for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid and leave it to stands for 30 minutes or more. Throw in the vegetarian minced meatless and re-boil the congee for few minutes prior to serving. To thicken the congee, mix 1-2 tablespoons of glutinous rice flour with 4 tablespoons of water and stir into the congee, if desired. Season with salt, sesame oil and pepper.
3. Ladle the congee into individual serving bowls, garnish with corianders leaves and serve hot.

Tofu and Pickled BaiLing Mushroom Congee

Something simple! I brought a bottle of Pickled Bailing Mushrooms from the Supermarket, thinking it would be good to keep as Emergency Food (Have a 2-week Supply of Food at Home Now for Any Emergency). Then, I remember a Non-vegetarian which I met sometime ago, taught me how to prepare an easy congee using tofu and can braised peanuts. So, instead of using the braised peanuts, I replaced with Pickled Bailing Mushrooms and it tastes good too. Don’t forget the pepper!

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 30 mins, plus 30 mins standing time

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g rice, washed and drained
° 1 small firm tofu, cubed
° 3-4 thin slices ginger, finely shredded
° 3 seedless red dates (optional)
° 1.2 litres water
° 1 bottle Pickled Bailing Mushrooms (vegetarian)
° salt and pepper, to taste
° ¼ fresh red chilli (optional), seeded and finely chopped, for garnish
° a small handful fresh coriander leaves, for garnish

Method
1. Put the rice, tofu, ginger, red dates and water in a claypot or pot. Let it stands for 1 hour or more, if desired.
2. Bring the congee to a boil for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid and leave it to stands for 30 minutes or more. Throw in the pickled bailing mushrooms and re-boil the congee for few minutes prior to serving. To thicken the congee, mix 1-2 tablespoons of glutinous rice flour with 4 tablespoons of water and stir into the congee, if desired. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Ladle the congee into individual serving bowls, garnish with chilli, corianders leaves and serve hot.

Millet Congee

This millet congee looks like plain congee with beaten egg. Add some seaweed or shredded nori, if desired.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 30 mins, plus 30 mins standing time

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g rice, washed and drained
° 50g millet, washed and drained
° 1.2 litres water
° salt and pepper, to taste
° sesame oil (optional), to taste
° a small handful fresh coriander leaves, for garnish

Method
1. Put the rice, millet and water in a claypot or pot. Let it stands for 1 hour or more, if desired.
2. Bring the congee to a boil for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid and leave it to stands for 30 minutes or more. Re-boil the congee for 10 minutes prior to serving. Season with salt, pepper and sesame oil.
3. Ladle the congee into individual serving bowls, garnish with corianders leaves and serve hot.

Sweet Potato Porridge

Using sweet potato in porridge is not uncommon. It adds sweetness to the porridge. Moreover, sweet potato is a wonderful food full of goodness.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 30 mins, plus 30 mins standing time

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g rice, washed and drained
° 1.2 litres water
° 150g-200g sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
° 2 thin slices ginger (optional)
° salt (optional), to taste

Method
1. Put the rice and water in a claypot or pot. Let it stands for 1 hour or more, if desired.
2. Bring the congee to a boil for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid and leave it to stands for 30 minutes or more. Throw in the sweet potato and re-boil the congee for 10-15 minutes prior to serving. Season to taste with salt. To thicken the congee, mix 1-2 tablespoons of glutinous rice flour with 4 tablespoons of water and stir into the congee, if desired.
3. Ladle the congee into individual serving bowls and serve hot.

Vegetarian “Century Egg” Congee

I am using a fruit – Avocado, to create the Vegan/Vegetarian version of Century Egg Congee. The ripe avocado tastes like the century egg yolk except it is yellowish in colour. I added some shiitake mushrooms to recreate the century egg white which has a gelatinous texture. Give it a try and don’t “overcook” the avocado, as it may taste bitter. If you find it bitter, mashed them in the congee, you won’t notice it.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 30 mins, plus 30 mins standing time

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g rice, washed and drained
° 1.2 litres water
° 6 thin slices ginger, finely shredded
° ½ - 1 ripe avocado, diced
° 2-3 fresh shiitake mushroom, diced
° salt, to taste
° light soy sauce (optional), to taste
° sesame oil, to taste
° pepper, to taste

Method
1. Put the rice and water in a claypot or pot. Let it stands for 1 hour or more, if desired.
2. Bring the congee to a boil for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid and leave it to stands for 30 minutes or more. Throw in the mushroom and re-boil the congee for few minutes prior to serving. To thicken the congee, mix 1-2 tablespoons of glutinous rice flour with 4 tablespoons of water and stir into the congee, if desired. Season with salt, light soy sauce, sesame oil and pepper. Finally, add in the avocado.
3. Ladle the congee into individual serving bowls and serve hot.

Eight Treasure Porridge

Ingredients: sticky rice, rice, crushed corn, red kidney bean, read bean, black rice, white kidney bean, hushed buckwheat, peanut, mung bean, red jujube.

The other day, I used Eight Treasure Porridge to cook Eight Treasure Rice instead. This time, I use it to cook porridge. Again, it is fairly simple. Wash and rinse and soak for 5 hours and cook for 30 minutes. It was suggested to add sugar and but I used salt instead and it is equally tasty.

Preparation: 5 mins, plus 3-5 hrs standing time, Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 125g eight treasure rice, washed and drained
° 1.5 litre water
° salt to taste

Method
1. Put the rice and water in a claypot or pot. Let it stands for 3-5 hour.
2. Bring the porridge to a boil and simmer for 20 - 30 minutes. Stirring occasionally or every 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt.
3. Ladle the congee into individual serving bowls and serve hot.

Amaranth and Wolfberries Congee

It is just a bowl simple and light congee. Red dates can be added, if desired.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 30 mins, plus 30 mins standing time

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g rice, washed and drained
° 1.2 litres water
° 1 slice ginger
° 1 tablespoon wolfberries (boxthorn berries), soaked
° 150g amaranth/Chinese spinach, finely chopped
° salt and pepper, to taste

Method
1. Put the rice, ginger, wolfberries and water in a claypot or pot. Let it stands for 1 hour or more, if desired.
2. Bring the congee to a boil for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid and leave it to stands for 30 minutes or more.
3. Re-boil the congee for few minutes prior to serving. Add in the spinach. To thicken the congee, mix 1-2 tablespoons of glutinous rice flour with 4 tablespoons of water and stir into the congee, if desired. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Ladle the congee into individual serving bowls and serve hot.

Spinach and Wolfberries Congee

A bowl of simple vegetable congee.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 30 mins, plus 30 mins standing time

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g rice, washed and drained
° 1.2 litres water
° 1 slice ginger
° 1 tablespoon wolfberries (boxthorn berries), soaked
° 150g spinach, finely chopped
° salt and pepper, to taste

Method
1. Put the rice, ginger, wolfberries and water in a claypot or pot. Let it stands for 1 hour or more, if desired.
2. Bring the congee to a boil for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid and leave it to stands for 30 minutes or more.
3. Re-boil the congee for few minutes prior to serving. Add in the spinach. To thicken the congee, mix 1-2 tablespoons of glutinous rice flour with 4 tablespoons of water and stir into the congee, if desired. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Ladle the congee into individual serving bowls and serve hot.

Winter Melon and Wolfberries Congee

This is a bowl of simple and light congee. Red dates can be added, if desired.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 30 mins, plus 30 mins standing time

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g rice, washed and drained
° 1.2 litres water
° 2 slices ginger
° 200g-300g winter melon (weight after peeling), cut into 1cm cubes
° 1-1½ tablespoons wolfberries (boxthorn berries), soaked
° 1 slice (25g) vegetarian ham, chopped or diced
° 1 tablespoon freshly chopped coriander or spring onion
° salt and pepper to taste
° sesame oil to taste

Method
1. Put the rice, ginger, winter melon, wolfberries and water in a claypot or pot. Let it stands for 1 hour or more, if desired.
2. Bring the congee to a boil for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid and leave it to stands for 30 minutes or more.
3. Add in the vegetarian ham and simmer for 10-15 minutes. To thicken the congee, mix 1-2 tablespoons of glutinous rice flour with 4 tablespoons of water and stir into the congee, if desired. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Ladle the congee into individual serving bowls, garnish with coriander or spring onion and serve hot.

Taro and Ginkgo Nut Congee

It is just a bowl of plain and simple congee which I love once in a while. I have omitted using seasoning, if this lacks the touch of sweetness or intensity, you might prefer to add a pinch of your favourite seasoning. Alternatively, you can use a bit more sesame oil or light soy sauce and pepper.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 30 mins, plus 30 mins standing time

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g rice, washed and drained
° 15 ginkgo nuts, halved
° 60g taro, peeled and diced
° 20g beancurd sheet, washed and shredded
° 1.2 litres water
° 1 thin slice ginger (optional),
° salt, to taste
° light soy sauce, to taste
° sesame oil, to taste
° pepper, to taste
° a small handful fresh coriander leaves, for garnish

Method
1. Put the rice, taro, ginkgo nuts, beancurd sheet, ginger, mushrooms and water in a claypot or pot. Let it stands for 1 hour or more, if desired.
2. Bring the congee to a boil for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid and leave it to stands for 30 minutes or more. Re-boil the congee for few minutes prior to serving. To thicken the congee, mix 1-2 tablespoons of glutinous rice flour with 4 tablespoons of water and stir into the congee, if desired. Season with salt, light soy sauce, sesame oil and pepper.
3. Ladle the congee into individual serving bowls, garnish with corianders leaves and serve hot.

“Abalone” Congee

The mock abalone is real tasty, if you are using it, you can omit the seasoning portion or use sparingly. Just keep the abalone liquid and add to the congee.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 30 mins, plus 30 mins standing time

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g rice, washed and drained
° 1.2 litres water
° ½ (80g±) vegetarian abalone, thinly sliced and reserve stock
° salt, to taste
° sesame oil, to taste
° pepper, to taste
° a small handful fresh coriander leaves, for garnish

Method
1. Put the rice and water in a claypot or pot. Let it stands for 1 hour or more, if desired.
2. Bring the congee to a boil for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid and leave it to stands for 30 minutes or more. Throw in the vegetarian abalone and re-boil the congee for few minutes prior to serving. To thicken the congee, mix 1-2 tablespoons of glutinous rice flour with 4 tablespoons of water and stir into the congee, if desired. Season with vegetarian abalone stock, salt, sesame oil and pepper.
3. Ladle the congee into individual serving bowls, garnish with corianders leaves and serve hot.

“Fish” Congee

Congee from the sea, in this recipe I made use of mock fish – vegetarian fish slice. To increase the flavour from the sea, dried kelps in knot can be used to boil the congee. Top with some finely shredded or small pieces of roasted nori. Don’t forget the pepper!

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 30 mins, plus 30 mins standing time

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g rice, washed and drained
° 1.2 litres water
° 6 thin slices ginger, finely shredded
° 2 (50g) vegetarian fish slices, diced
° salt, to taste
° light soy sauce, to taste
° sesame oil, to taste
° pepper, to taste
° a small handful fresh coriander leaves, for garnish

Method
1. Put the rice and water in a claypot or pot. Let it stands for 1 hour or more, if desired.
2. Bring the congee to a boil for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid and leave it to stands for 30 minutes or more. Throw in the vegetarian fish and re-boil the congee for few minutes prior to serving. To thicken the congee, mix 1-2 tablespoons of glutinous rice flour with 4 tablespoons of water and stir into the congee, if desired. Season with salt, light soy sauce, sesame oil and pepper.
3. Ladle the congee into individual serving bowls, garnish with corianders leaves and serve hot.

Vegetarian “Chicken” Congee

I don’t know how to name this, a little headache. How to name this dish that resembles the taste of the chicken congee. I love this casual dish – “chicken” congee, it is just delicious. Again, I like to use shredded cardoncello mushroom to substitute chicken strips that is usually used in chicken congee.

Preparation: 10 mins ,Cooking time: 30 mins, plus 30 mins standing time

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g rice, washed and drained
° 1.2 litres water
° salt, to taste
° light soy sauce, to taste
° sesame oil, to taste
° pepper, to taste
° a small handful fresh coriander leaves, for garnish
° 150g-200g cardoncello mushroom/king oyster mushroom, shredded
° 25g ginger, peeled and finely shredded
° 2 tablespoons sesame oil
° ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste

Method
1. Put the rice and water in a claypot or pot. Let it stands for 1 hour or more, if desired.
2. Bring the congee to a boil for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid and leave it to stands for 30 minutes or more.
3. Meanwhile, prepare shredded “chicken”. Place the cardoncello mushrooms and ginger in a heatproof serving plate. Drizzle 2 tablespoons sesame oil and salt over the mushroom and steam for 10 minutes. Set aside.
4. Re-boil the congee for 10 minutes prior to serving. Mix with steamed mushrooms. Season with salt, light soy sauce, sesame oil and pepper.
5. Ladle the congee into individual serving bowls, garnish with corianders leaves and serve hot.

Cabbage and Carrot Congee

I like this congee which I used to eat during school recess when I was a naughty primary school kid in the 70s. A bowl of cabbage and carrot congee with few salted peanuts cost me SGD 20 cents.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 30 mins, plus 30 mins standing time

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g rice, washed and drained
° 1.2 litre water
° 2 slices ginger
° 20g carrot, peeled and finely shredded
° 25g Chinese cabbage, finely shredded
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil
° salt, to taste
° pepper, to taste
° light soy sauce (optional), to taste
° a small handful fresh spring onion or coriander leaves, finely chopped
° 2 tablespoons lightly salted peanut (optional)

Method
1. Put the rice, water, ginger, cabbage and carrot in a claypot. Let it stands for 1 hour or more, if desired.
2. Bring the congee to a boil for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid and leave it to stands for 30 minutes or more. Re-boil the congee for 10 minutes prior to serving. Season to taste with sesame oil, salt, pepper and light soy sauce.
3. Ladle the congee into individual serving bowls, garnish with spring onion or coriander leaves, salted peanut and serve hot.

Plain Congee

This basic recipe for congee (rice porridge) is more toward the Cantonese style where the water to rice ratio is 12:1 and usually take at least 1 hour to be cooked. In order to conserve energy, I like to use the claypot which help to retain heat and reduce the cooking time to half. If you prefer it thinner, just add more water. To thicken, you may add some cornflour solution or glutinous rice flour solution. It can be served with a variety of accompaniments, such as pickled turnips, salted peanuts, mustard greens etc.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 30 mins, plus 30 mins standing time

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g rice, washed and drained
° 1.2 litres water

Method
1. Put the rice and water in a claypot or pot. Let it stands for 1 hour or more, if desired.
2. Bring the congee to a boil for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid and leave it to stands for 30 minutes or more. Re-boil the congee for 10 minutes prior to serving.
3. Ladle the congee into individual serving bowls and serve hot.

Mushroom and Black Fungus Congee

Congee is a type of rice porridge. This recipe is more toward the Cantonese style where the water to rice ratio is 12:1 and usually take at least 1 hour to be cooked. In order to save energy in cooking congee, I like to use the claypot which help to retain heat and reduce the cooking time to half. Just removed the mushroom, black fungus (wood ear), carrot, this recipe can be served as the basic congee recipe where other ingredients can be used or eaten as it is with other dishes.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 30 mins - plus 30 mins standing time

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g rice, washed and drained
° 1.2 litres water
° 2 slices ginger
° 20g carrot, peeled and finely shredded
° 2 Chinese dried mushrooms, soaked and finely shredded
° a small handful shredded black fungus, soaked and cut into smaller pieces
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil
° salt, to taste
° pepper, to taste
° light soy sauce (optional), to taste
° a small handful fresh spring onion or coriander leaves, finely chopped

Method
1. Put the rice, water, ginger, carrot, mushrooms and black fungus in a claypot. Let it stands for 1 hour or more, if desired.
2. Bring the congee to a boil for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid and leave it to stands for 30 minutes or more. Re-boil the congee for 10 minutes prior to serving. Season to taste with sesame oil, salt, pepper and light soy sauce.
3. Ladle the congee into individual serving bowls, garnish with spring onion or coriander leaves and serve hot.