Congee (Chinese: 粥; pinyin: zhōu) is a popular type of food eaten in many Asian countries. It is made by prolonged boiling of rice in copious among of water and it is often eaten with savoury or sweet condiments.
This simple food has a number of health benefits. It is particular suitable for the sick and frail individuals. Congee is easy to digest and assimilate and it tonifies both Qi and Blood, harmonizes the Middle Jiao and promotes urination. Depending on ingredient(s) it cooked with, it can have almost unlimited medicinal applications.
In some culture congee is made into one pot meal to serve all family members and friends in various social settings. Congee can be made using a pot (non stick preferred) or rice cooker or a Crockpot.
There are 3 stages of congee:
Stage 1
The state of rice looks like cook rice and slightly puffier with large amount of water.
Stage 2
The rice grains look more large, broken and puffy but not totally turn to gruel. It is smooth, watery and do not stick to the back of spatula when stirred.
Stage 3
The rice totally broken down and becomes thicker, creamier and gruel like. Definitely stick to spatula when stirred.
Why 3 stages and what are their significants?
In a nutshell, it all comes down to individual preferences in normal conditions.
However there are differences if uses for therapeutic purposes:
1. Digesting period and specificity for individual needs
a. Stage 3 is being the easiest to digest and therefore it is often serve to the sick and the frail. It is also common as introduction to growing infants, weaning them from milk.
b. Stage 2 is suitable for the sick who are recovering from diseases, post partum, post operative and lack of appetite due to digestive problems or poor digestive system.
c. Stage 1 can be use in two different ways.
i. First, the rice is strain and only the broth is used to give to very frail individuals due to sickness and very poor or low in appetite.
ii. Secondly it can be served to those who are near recovered from disease but did not have a strong digestion.
2. Ingestion with herbal medicine
a. Some herbal formulas are best taken together with some congee. For individual who is weak and frail, the broth from Stage 1 is often served when taking herbal medicine to moderate and/or lessen the harshness of herbal remedies on an almost empty stomach. The broth also aid to line and promote the production of digestive fluids to help absorption of medicine especially the herbs is in pill form or capsules. One might choose to use Stage 2 or 3 depending on individual ability to assimilate in accordance to their health status.
3. Cooking time
a. Longer period need to reach Stage 3 and it is often few hours or overnight on a very low heat and water level is always checked. It often involve combining ingredients which need long cooking time to breakdown, e.g. nuts, beans, seeds, fibrous vegetables including selected herbs.
Basic Congee Recipe
1 part of rice
8-14 parts of water*
For example:
1 cup / 200 g of long grain rice
14 cups / 3.5 L of water
*The amount of water will deterred the thickness of congee especially Stage 2 and 3.
Method:
1) Wash rice and put aside
2) Bring water to boil then add in the rice. Turn heat to medium-low and let simmer with the lid tilt slightly.
Stage 1 – approx 30mins
Stage 2 – approx 60-90mins
Stage 3 – requires very low heat and may need to transfer pot to smallest burner on low heat for 2.5-4 hours with lid on. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking or burning.
NOTE:
1. Using rice cooker is only recommended to achieve Stage 1 and 2. Precaution must be taken when using normal rice cooker. It risk of water boiling over and loss of fluid. Some rice cooker comes with casserole or congee setting.
2. Another method of cooking is by using a Crockpot. Follow the manual which came in it.
3. If you do not have a Crockpot and did not have the time to cook it on stove, then I suggest using a lidded pot which can be put in the oven. Combined the ingredients in the pot with hot water and place it in the oven on a very low heat of 80-90oC. Leave pot for 6-8 hours.
The following table is example of some foods can be added to congee and their actions.
Type of Congee | Actions |
Mung Bean Congee | Febrifuge, Cooling of Summer Heat – being outside under hot sun and feeling feverish. |
Radish Congee | Cool Heat problem of internal digestive organ mainly due to excessive greasy, hot and heating food. |
Adzuki Bean Congee | Dries damp and useful in oedema and retention of urine. |
Celery Congee | Relieve summer heat and relieve Liver Yang Rising |
Peanut Congee | Lubricates the Lungs and relieves dry cough |
Leek Congee | Warms and Tonifies Middle Burner. Relieves chronic diarrhoea |
Barley (Job’s Tear) Congee | Clears heat from Middle Burner and relieves hot diarrhoea and promote urination. |
Carrot Congee | Promotes digestion and carminative. Benefits the vision and relieves indigestion and chronic dysentery. |
Liver Congee | Liver Deficiencies – Liver Blood/Yin Deficiencies and also for the Kidney Yin Deficiency. |
Chicken Congee | Tonifies Qi and Blood. Harmonises the Middle Burner. |
Milk Congee with added Honey | Calms Shen and Nourishes the Spleen and Stomach. Harmonises Middle Burner. Relieves constipation and indigestion. |
Ginger Congee | Warms the Middle Burner. Relieves cold stomachache and cold diarrhoea. Warms the body in general. |
Lamb Congee | Warming and Tonifies Qi and Blood. Strengthens Kidney Qi causing Lumbago. |
Gou Qi Zi Congee | Benefits the Liver and vision. |
Precautions:
Since congee is diuretic, it is not recommended for those have condition of Deficiency polyuria and nocturia. TCM diagnosis of such condition is Deficiency of Kidney Qi or Kidney Yang Deficiency.
If you have any doubt or want to know more about the use of congee, contact your TCM practitioner or myself.
Thank you for reading.
Kenny Law
Australia Registered TCM Practitioner.
DISCLAIMER:
Information given are purely for references and it is not intent to diagnose medical conditions or to be used for self-diagnosed. Always consult medical health personnel for proper medical diagnosis.
© COPYRIGHT 2010 KENNY LAW
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