This was not my first choice of meal because reading the recipe, it just did not sound very appealing. BUT, I went ahead and made it because it was simple enough and ended up tasting alright. And while this post might not be a total success for me, it goes to show that you should always try new things and maybe someone will find inspiration from it.

So, if you’ve never had congee (like me), it’s basically like a combo of rice soup and porridge. I used a recipe from Budget Bytes website (Congee Recipe). I followed the recipe to a tee because I didn’t want to mess it up since I didn’t know what it was supposed to be like.

You basically just throw rice, garlic, ginger, mushrooms (I used zucchini instead) and chicken in the instant pot, then top all that with a whole lot of water (7 cups) and let it cook for like 20 minutes. When it finishes, make sure you let it fully natural release because otherwise, you will have a huge starchy mess (I was getting a little impatient waiting for all the pressure to release and when I flipped the nob to venting, there was a lot of starchy rice water coming out of the spout… oopsy).

When you open the lid, it doesn’t look that attractive – just being honest. You have to take out the chicken, remove the bones and put it back in the pot. Then just mix in some salt because there was none earlier and serve it up.

To plate it, just scoop some into a bowl, then you gotta load it with the toppings because it is a pretty bland dish on its own. The recipe says to put soy sauce, sesame oil, peanuts, cilantro and green onion. I had all of that except cilantro. With all the additions at the end, it was a decent meal. It’s definitely something like I’ve never had before and I’m honestly not sure if I will make it again. I think I just need more texture and variety in my meals and this one was definitely lacking in that department.

But if you are interested in making congee, I would recommend this recipe because it was super easy and straightforward and I think mine turned out pretty similar to it. Let me know your experiences!