Chinese Sausage + Shiitake Congee

I’ve been eating a lot of congee lately – my freezer is full of chicken broth and there’s few breakfasts more perfect than a cozy bowl of chicken congee. But, what happens when I don’t have chicken soup and want something a little bit more flavorful than plain congee? I usually always have dehydrated shiitake and Chinese sausage on hand and they add a lot of great flavor to my congee.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup medium grain or Jasmine rice
  • 1 Chinese sausage, sliced on the diagonal
  • 6 small dried shiitake (3 large). Rehydrate in 1 cup of hot water – reserve the water. De-stem shiitake and slice
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2.5 cups of water

Directions:

  1. Place rice and 1 cup of reserve shiitake water along with 2.5 cups of water (3.5 cups of liquid in total) in a pot and bring to a boil.
  2. Turn heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes.
  3. Heat up ~1 tsp oil in a pan and saute shiitake and sausage for about 2 minutes over medium heat. Add in soy sauce and cook for another minute.
  4. Stir sausage and shiitake mixture into the congee and simmer for another 10 minutes.
  5. Season with slat to taste and garnish with your favorite toppings – jammy eggs, fried shallots, scallions, and cilantro are my go to.