Recipe for Mushroom and Duck Congee

So, following on from a previous post about congee, I've done enough experimenting to be able to provide you a yummy recipe for you to try yourself! ^^

Can you see the heart shape that I made with the soy sauce and sesame oil? :)

Sorry I didn't take more in progress photos - I made this in between my new "let's lose that winter layer" exercise routine...which was a fifteen minute run, fifty sit ups, thirty squats and a ninety second plank. We'll see how long I keep this up...!

You will need:

One cup of long grain rice (makes about two servings)
Shiitake mushrooms
Some shredded pieces of chicken or duck (I used leftover duck roast)
Half a cube of beef stock
One spring onion
Sesame oil
Soy sauce

What to do:

1. Boil the rice in a rice cooker or saucepan until the rice is soft.

2. Whilst the rice is cooking, chop the shiitake mushrooms into little pieces. If you have dried mushrooms, you can cut them using kitchen scissors and then let them soak. I find it easier to cut dried shiitake mushrooms when they are dry.

3. After the rice has cooked, add it to a saucepan and fill up the pan with boiling water to just cover the level of rice.

4. Add the chopped mushrooms, beef stock and shredded meat. Raw or cooked meat is fine - if the meat is cooked, then you will get some flavour seeping into the congee and if it is raw, it will boil in the water and fall to pieces more easily, which is what you want to happen.

5. Turn up the heat and let the water simmer, remembering to stir frequently otherwise the rice will stick to the bottom of the pan and burn. Keep on simmering until the rice starts to break apart. If the level of the water drops below the level of rice before the rice has broken apart, top it up with more water. This step should take about half an hour, or until you are satisfied with the consistency of the congee.

6. Spoon out the congee into a bowl and garnish with chopped spring onion. Add soy sauce and sesame oil to your own personal taste (and maybe salt too although I didn't use any).

Tada, so sweet and so easy to eat!

Voila, a mild and easy to digest food, here for you to try! Please let me know how you get on if you decide to give this recipe a go, and of course any suggestions for improvement are welcome!

Before I leave, just wanted to share with you a spontaneous purchase I made today:

Click the image for more details!

And to leave you with a riddle that I overheard being discussed in the corridor whilst I was cooking. Honestly, I could not figure it out. And didn't understand it when I had the answer explained to me. In fact, I still don't understand it, but if you give it a go and want to know the answer, let me know in the comments and I'll get a friend to explain it to me whilst I take notes for a future post! ^^

Yishi xxx