How do I make congee with a rice cooker?
One type of healthy (and versatile) rice dish is
known as Congee. Congee is, in a way, “Asian rice porridge,” with each
country in
·
Cantonese
·
Japanese
·
Vietnamese
But many other varieties exist, including Korean,
Indian, Taiwanese, Thai, Cambodian and more. The style of congee you prefer
affects how well the rice cooker is able to succeed in creating it. Some
varieties of congee are going to be thicker in consistency, allowing them to
be easily created either using the “porridge” setting that comes on many
rice cookers today, or by adding extra water and adjusting the heat and
length of time in the cooker.
Others, like Cantonese congee, are more difficult,
because they require a level of heat and boiling time that many rice cookers
are not designed to handle. Here are several solutions for making congee
similar to Cantonese style in a standard rice cooker.
Switching to Pots
One method of making congee is to place the rice in
the appliance as normal, and let it run – either on the porridge setting, if
possible, or on the regular setting if not. Once completed, you can pour the
rice mixture into a pot, turn up the heat to low/medium, and then add
boiling water to help it liquefy. This also allows you to mix in additional
ingredients if necessary.
Add a Considerable Amount of Extra Water
When your rice cooker allows you to control heat
and time, it is a good idea to add much more water than you usually would to
your rice cooker (or less rice is water space is limited). This will help
the rice soak in more water to create the desired consistency out of your
congee. In addition, if your rice cooker has a setting for congee but it is
not working, consider adding more water here as well as sometimes the
settings are incorrect for the type of congee you are cooking.
Congee should be roughly 2-3 cups of water for
every 1/4th cup of rice, rather than the standard “2 cups per
cup” rice cooking method. Not only is this the correct way to cook congee,
but it is easier to cook congee in your rice cooker as well; most cookers
are designed to shut off after the water is gone, but the high water content
of this congee measurement will keep the device on cook mode, allowing it to
reach proper congee consistency. In these cases, however, it is important
you are there to supervise as the rice cooker is unlikely to shut off on its
own.
Alternate Types of Congee
Both of these methods should work for any type of
congee you make. Some types of congee may be thicker – for example, Japanese
congee uses about 5 cups of water for every cup of rice (compared to
Cantonese which is as much as 12 cups of water per cup of rice). Adjusting
your measurements will make it easier to be successful with your rice
cooker, and creating the dishes should be a breeze once you learn the
correct ratios.
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