Corn Congee Soup

If you've never had congee, think of it as a star-anise studded, gingery broth, with spring onions and broken jasmine rice dotted throughout - yum! I concede that this is a stretch, but think of it (if you’ve never and it before) as a sort of Asian-third cousin of chicken noodle soup, except there’s obviously no chicken and instead of noodles, there’s rice. Making it perfect for GF folks who really miss chicken noodle soup, and want a dish that isn’t full of ‘GF-replacements’ that more often than not completely miss the mark. Rather it is its own dish that’s equally as delicious.

This is comfort in a bowl!

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil (e.g. grapeseed)
• 1 bunch spring onions, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled & chopped (or 2 tsp minced ginger)
• 1 heaped tbsp freshly minced ginger
• 1 star anise
• pinch chilli flakes
• 1 x 420g tin creamed corn
• 3/4 cup jasmine rice
• 2 tbsp white wine
• 1 tbsp soy sauce/tamari (the latter to make GF)
• 2 tsp rice wine vinegar
• 6 cups vegan "chicken" or vegetable stock
• pepper
• 1 bunch of choi sum/pak choi/bok choi/chinese broccoli, any will do, shredded
• drizzle sesame oil

Method

1. Add the vegetable oil to a large pot over medium heat. Add the spring onions, garlic, onion and minced ginger, sauté until the onion has started to soften & everything is heavenly fragrant.
2. Add the star anise and chilli flakes. Stir to combine. Add the creamed corn, stirring everything together, then add the rice. Let soak up some of the moisture in the pan for a minute or two, then add the white wine, soy/tamari, rice wine vinegar and stock. Stir everything together. Yes, it will be quite liquidy, but the rice really does soak up a lot of the stock.
3. Bring to the boil, turn the heat down to a gentle simmer, then cover with a lid and cook for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally. The rice will become tender and then fall apart which is what you want.
4. Once the soup is looking thick and creamy, turn off the heat. Season with pepper, add in the shredded greenery and a drizzle of sesame oil. Stir to combine and to wilt/partially cook the greens. Serve & enjoy. If you have leftovers, you'll need to add some more water before re-heating as the starch will thicken it as it cools.