Quick and easy shrimp congee with greens
Congee is a thick porridge popular in China. We are a group of people value congee and porridge very much. They can be provided as breakfast or staple food in hot summer days.
When I was living in Sichuan province, we usually cook pure congee or congee with greens. I loved them very much. Then after moving to my current location, I am amazed by how Cantonese people use their talents on congee! There are so many types of congee here! Usually, we use clay pot so Cantonese congees have a group name: clay pot congee. Thick rice soup is used as a thick soup base and then various side ingredients are added at the ending or even beginning.
Chinese people love to use water to make fresh congee or porridge since stocks provide a taste might cover the fragrance of the rice itself. However stocks are used to make savory congee too like savory pick bone congee. For this recipe, I recommend using clean water directly.
- 1 cup rice
- 2 L water
- 10 small-sized shrimps or more if you wanted , divined and unshelled, I keep the tail
- 1/2 cup minced greens , Bok Choy, Yu Choy etc
- Pinch of salt to taste
- 1 piece of ginger , shredded
- Pinch of ground pepper
- Green onion , minced for garnish
- 1 tablespoon cooking wine
- 1/2 teaspoon cooking oil
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In a small bowl, marinate shrimp with 2-3 ginger shreds, cooking wine and ground pepper.
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Soak the rice for around 30 minutes and then wash and drain. In a small bowl, marinade the rice with pinch of salt and cooking oil for 10 minutes.
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In a large pot, bring enough water to boil and then add rice. Use lowest fire to simmer for around 40 minutes until the rice is broken and get a thick soup base.
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Add ginger and minced greens and continue cooking for 1 minute.
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Add shrimp in; Turn off immediately the fire until the shrimp becomes red.
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Garnish with green onion and serve hot with small side dishes like cucumber salad, pickles or fried shallot.
If you want the rice soup to be thicker, simmer for a longer time. For a thin soup base, slightly add more water.
I love congee with a dab of XO sauce! I’ll try your recipe soon
That’s a brilliant idea to serve it with XO sauce. I will make one bottle and serve with my congee next week. Thanks for the suggestions and happy cooking ahead.
Hi Elaine,
Thanks for your recipe and post. I live in Malaysia and the Chinese over here prepare two different types of porridge. The first type is the Cantonese style, with lots of savory ingredients in it (pork, fish, chicken etc), and simmer until the rice grains are partially dissolved. The second type is the Hokkien style porridge, which is essentially plain porridge boiled for a very short time, and the rice grains are still intact. It is served together with varieties of condiments such as pickles, salted eggs, spring onions, groundnuts etc.
That is how the Cantonese and Hokkien people prepare the porridge here in Malaysia. Is it the same in China too?
KP Kwan
Hi there,
Yes, they are almost the same. We call Cantonese style porridge as congee or 粥 in Chinese and the second one as porridge or 稀饭. 稀饭 actually is much popular in my hometown and usually we match it with lots of savory small dishes like cucumber, pickles and salted duck egg.