Nothing like a blog tour from a fabulous cookbook, to get me moving in the kitchen again. It also helped that the recipes are super easy and still delicious. I already told you all about OATrageous Oatmeals earlier but I am back for Kathy’s blog tour. This time sharing her recipe for Mushroom Ginger Congee.
Traditionally congee is made with rice to make a porridge-like consistency and flavoured and garnished with as much or as little as you want. I noticed Kate Lewis’ photo in the book had additional mushrooms and green onions as garnishes, so I added that to mine. Not merely photogenic, it added a nice depth of flavour, too. I think a bit of toasted sesame oil would be lovely, too. I was never super convinced oats could hold savoury flavours so well, but this was delicious. I used Bob’s Red Mill Extra Thick Rolled Oats because I knew I wanted them to have a bit more texture. They were delicious here.
Thankfully, the publisher is letting me share the recipe AND give a cookbook to one reader living in the United States or Canada. To be entered, please leave a comment here, telling me what you like to do with oats. I will randomly select a winner on September 28, 2014. Good luck!
I am sharing this with Souper Sundays.
Mushroom Ginger Congee
From OATrageous Oatmeals by Kathy Hester printed with permission of Page Street Publishing
Served in a bowl, Congee is a thick Asian comfort food that can soothe a sore throat or just make you feel better after a bad day. This recipe makes enough for two but feel free to double or triple if you’re feeding more or want to keep some in the fridge for the duration of your cold. The mushrooms and ginger are great for getting your immune system back on track.
3 cups (710 ml) vegetable broth or vegan chick’n broth
1/2 cup (48 g) rolled oats
1/2 cup (35 g) minced mushrooms (shiitakes are great)
1/4 cup (27 g) minced carrot or sweet potato
1 tablespoon (6 g) grated ginger
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar (Janet’s note: I recommend increasing this)
salt, to taste
hot pepper flakes, to taste
Janet’s note: chopped green onions, to taste
1. Bring the broth, oats, mushrooms and minced carrot or sweet potato to a boil in a medium pot.
Lower the heat to medium-low and add in the ginger, soy sauce and vinegar. Cook for 15 to 20
minutes until the oats are cooked and the stew becomes thick.
2. Before serving, add salt to taste and spice with hot pepper flakes. (Janet’s note: Also add chopped green onions)
Serves 2 (or 1 according to me).
the taste space 
Thanks for the giveaway, Janet! I make a big ol’ batch of granola every few weeks, and have yet to find a better use for oats. 🙂
I’m not a big fan of congee, but I love the idea of oats instead of rice. I would definitely try it.
I love adding oats to my morning smoothie.
I usually throw some oats in my smoothies,make cookies or oatmeal with different toppings! . Maybe this book could help with different ideas.I do want to try steel cut oats in my crockpot!!
I love making steel cut oatmeal in my slow-cooker overnight, which I can eat all week for breakfast! I also think that oats are great in veggie burgers!
My kids LOVE oats–simplest usage is combining old fashioned oats and dried fruit for a bowl of ‘muesli’. I make apple-raisin oatmeal a lot during winter; I’ve never tried savory oats, though. Intriguing.
Thanks for offering the giveaway! I eat oatmeal for breakfast often, but I’d love to branch out a little bit 🙂
so that is what congee is – I have a group of dishes that I am always paranoid include fish and I think this is among them. looks delicious – we eat lots of porridge and smoothies with oats – I also have an irish soup recipe with oats and roots that I really love – but I am still to make the savoury oats – the book sounds great
Thanks for this giveaway Janet 🙂 I will certainly try this Congee since I heard a lot about it before. I like to use oatmeal in different kind of things; homemade granola, granola bars, in my vegan “creton”, smoothie, a simple bowl of oatmeal with water, etc.
Since I’m gluten free I love grinding gluten free oats up and using them as flour in recipes.
I ad never heard of “congee” so looked it up online. I think using oatmeal instead of rice is interesing. I don’t eat oatmeal much at all. But eating a savory oatmeal seems a lot more interesting to me. Since when I cook it is for four, I assume I can double the recipe.
I use oats in so many cookies, brownies, granolas, trails bars, smoothies and porridges but I’ve never really thought about using it in savory dishes. I do love traditional rice congee so maybe I need to give this recipe a go!
I love making overnight oats, it’s so easy and delicious! I mix oats with peanut butter, cinnamon, coconut sugar, and chopped apple in a mason jar and let it sit in my fridge overnight. It is the perfect breakfast!
I love my morning oatmeal, but my favorite has to be oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips added in. Yum.
There’s a Cincinnati specialty called goetta, a German sausage made with steel-cut oats, spices (and some other less desirable ingredients). I’ve never actually made it, but I grew up watching my grandma make it from scratch. Fortunately for me, there are a couple of vegan versions made locally. It’s my favorite thing made from oats.
Make a lot of oatmeal the last thing I did was add unsweetened coconut shreds, vanilla powder and a block of white chocolate. It was super yummy.
Overnight oats and oat meal – in dozens of different varieties!
Oatmeal Raisin cookies!
My favorite thing to make with oats are oatmeal crepes and fill them with fruit and yogurt!
I love to get creative making overnight oatmeal in different flavors
We love oatmeal for breakfast but I also love to throw it in soups and make oatmeal bars with chocolate chips.
Baked oatmeal with berries, almond butter and maple syrup.
I’ve had a savory oatmeal dish on my to-do list for years, thanks for the prompt to move it to the top! I’m a fan of all types of oats, but I love to make oat bran vegan muffins. Delicious!
I like making the dehysdrated steel cut oat based crackers from the book Absolutely Abeba’s Krazy Krackers.
I like to make oatmeal for breakfast and mix in some blueberries and almond milk.
There are quite a few ways in which I love using oats, but I can say that a good bowl of hot oatmeal porridge for breakfast on chilly mornings is hard to beat! I love cooking it with dates and almonds, for a bit of sweetness and a bit of crunch. Actually, I’m realizing now that it’s been way too long since last time I made some, and the weather’s unseasonably cold at the moment, so I see some porridge in my near future… 🙂
Chocolate granola!
Hi Janet. You won the giveaway. Please check your email.
What an interesting bowl of congee. I have had oats in soups before but usually just blended in and hidden for thickness. Love the flavors. Thanks for sharing it with Souper Sundays this week.
Mmmm this sounds really good! And I have all of the ingredients =)
I would love the check out this cookbook too!
I love to make cookies with oats – Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. I prefer using golden raisins, since they have a smoother taste than the darker raisins.