I’m not sure what section this belongs in, but it’s squarely in the category of “thing you would know about if we were friends” so 🤷♀️
Congee is basically a rice porridge. It has a risotto vibe when you’re making it, and I think I might channel a bit of
I don’t have a good explanation for why congee is as delicious as it is. It is not just soggy rice.
For digestion, one idea is that congee is very hydrating, in a way that’s easier for your gut to absorb. Liquids normally pass right through, but rice that’s absorbed many times its volume in water will take time to release.
It’s also in the broader category of warm wet foods [my sister has recently lobbied to rename this category “warming comfort foods” 🙃] which are nourishing in a way that an ice cold (and otherwise nutritious) smoothie can’t be, due to the general way it causes your body to contract/constrict.
I make a big batch to last all week (3 cups of rice makes about 4.5qts which is the max that fits comfortably in my
Andrew Sterman appears to be the relevant expert in the area (he’s also a super-accomplished musician!):
This involves a fair amount of pushing rice around and making sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. For that I recommend a wooden spoon with a relatively flat bottom, e.g.
update: this spoon is great, but the edges of the handle are uncomfortable when stirring a huge pot of congee. I’m testing out the OXO turner set (which wirecutter rejected due to them drying out/cracking quickly — so I’ll probably not put them in the dishwasher and I’ll maybe need to spoil them with mineral oil and see how that goes)
His wife’s page has a lot of resources as well, and I’m trying out their ideas about “meal design,” for now mostly in changing what sorts of things I treat as appetizers: our family has little dishes of warmed olives and marinated artichoke hearts during meal prep to get the digestive juices flowing.
(I’ve also started drinking warm water, especially first thing when I wake up, with a diagnosis of maybe having some sort of persistent chill in my core?) It helps that I have an
(update: this is my first summer on the wet warm food train (maybe it’s actually better to continue putting warm things in as a way of powering the natural processes that cool you down?) and I’m now trying out Andrew’s two volume cookbook set, where one seems to be more conceptual and the second is more hands-on)
(new favorite(?) weird food: coconut chia pudding. Wildly easy to prepare, seems like it might be fine even with only a tiny amount of sweetener (I made it with maple syrup), generally seems to have similar benefits to congee: holds lots of moisture, has a sort of smooth gelatin thing going on, is warm and comforting and apparently full of fiber and good for you? I made mine with 1 cup TJ’s whole organic coconut milk, 1/3tsp cinnamon, freshly ground nutmeg (just enough for the aroma or 1/16tsp), 1/4 tsp vanilla extract, 1/4 cup TJ’s organic chia seeds, and a splash of maple syrup (less than 1Tbs)— I used my hand-held electric whisk to mix the spices and syrup and coconut milk and then added the seeds, stirred it all together, came back in an hour and stirred some more, added some water because it seemed like it could absorb a bit more, popped it in the fridge and then heated up a small serving when the mood struck.)
Update: I think it makes sense to use an entire can of coconut milk to simplify things and lower the odds that you’ll waste the rest of the can. To get 2cups, you may need to add a couple oz of water and then you can double the other ingredients. I’ve been making it in a 1 quart mason jar (with measurements on the side), which gives just enough room for it to swell as it absorbs water.
(It calls for as much cardamom as cinnamon, but I didn’t have any, so I made do without and we still love it)
🫙I haven’t really updated y’all about using mason jars yet, but: I use them all the time; even more than my
Maybe also try out qi gong?