Low Fodmap Congee
What to Eat When Too Sick to Eat
Congee rice is soothing, safe and adaptable to many different flavors from sweet to savory. Of course my version is low fodmap congee, meaning I swapped out harmful ingredients for ingredients IBS folks can tolerate. I use plain sushi rice or jasmine rice, not a processed rice mix, and safe toppings such as sliced green stems of scallions only (not the white heads), and no garlic or onions. Make sure your own choices of add ins are low fodmap as well.
Asian people all over the globe eat this Congee porridge. Mothers feed it to their children when the children are feeling ill, but many just eat it because they love it. I include this recipe mainly as an answer for IBS folks when nothing we eat agrees with either our gut or our colon. Another bonus of this recipe ? It stretches a small amount of rice into 4 to 6 servings.
How to Customize Congee for IBS
Asian folk eat it with shrimp, pork or fish, diced scallions, a bit of ginger, fish sauce and soy sauce. I eat it with fish or boiled shrimp, a bit of ginger, soy sauce and fish sauce. I also use salt and pepper to give the plain congee some depth of flavor. Use condiments that work for you that you have found are safe and ones that you also enjoy.
Why Eat Congee?
Congee is a very comforting food and I am eating it today because my first vaccine shot has given me some IBS side effects. This dish is safe for me even while I am in the middle of an IBS flare-up where I can’t really tolerate anything else. Today is one of those days. I have chills, a headache, tiredness and tummy cramps. Ugh! So I decided to make rice congee. I ate it for breakfast and lunch. I’m only sorry that I don’t feel well enough to go to the store and buy more shrimp. lol.
Adapted From “Eating for IBS”
My original recipe for congee rice porridge came from Heather Van Vorous’s book, Eating for IBS. However, her recipe took forever to cook and I thought, there must be a quicker way. Happily, after tooling around the internet, I saw that the time for cooking congee really depends on how much rice and water I am using and how quickly I cook my rice.
Because I have an electric ceramic cooktop (which I wish I could change to gas, but it’s not possible where I live (sob), everything cooks too fast. Because my congee cooked very fast even on low, I stirred it the whole time I was cooking it so that it wouldn’t burn. I also made half the amount called for in Heather’s recipe, which might be why mine cooked so much faster.(It was done in 20 minutes from the time I reduced the heat to simmer and clapped the top on part way to allow steam to escape.
Can You Use A Rice Cooker to Make Congee?
Yes, you can, if your rice cooker has a setting for it. It might say something like “Chinese porridge “, “congee” or just “porridge”. If your cooker doesn’t have a setting like that, then I wouldn’t try to make it in your rice cooker. I wish that mine had such a setting, but it doesn’t. I’m saving up to buy a rice cooker that does have such a setting. Can’t wait.
Anyway, here is my recipe for low fodmap Congee, with scallions and shrimp. I hope that you love it and that it loves you back. As IBS folk, we know all too well the persnickety ways of food choices, but rice porridge is pretty safe as long as your add-ins are also safe.
Ingredients:
6 or 7 cups of boiling water
1/2 cup of sushi rice (some like jasmine rice, but I love short grain sushi)
pinch of salt for rice mixture and also for boiling water
1/4 tsp canola oil
1/4 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp grated or minced fresh ginger. (I would not use ground dried ginger in this dish.)
Toppings for Serving:
Scallions, diced up
4-6 boiled shrimp
Splashes of soy sauce and fish sauce, to taste
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Place the 1/2 cup of rice in a strainer and spray it with cold water until the water runs clear. Place the rice in a small bowl.
Add the baking soda, canola oil and salt to the rice and mix it all into the rice. Set aside.
In a 4 quart saucepan, pour in the water and bring to a boil over medium high heat. When the water is boiling, stir in the rice mixture. Reduce the heat and cook at a low boil, uncovered, stirring constantly, until the rice begins to thicken.
Then turn the heat down enough to maintain a bare simmer, add the sesame oil and minced ginger, and keep cooking for about 20 minutes or more until the rice has thickened into a porridge or pudding consistency.
During this time, I cover the rice congee, but leave the top partially covered instead of covered all the way. This allows the steam to escape. I turn on my fan so that my windows don’t steam up. lol.
I also stir the porridge often so that it doesn’t stick on the bottom of the pan. If the water boils down too much and the rice is still not soft and puddinglike, add more. But if you keep your stove on a bare simmer, the water should last until the congee is thickened. Then turn off the heat and cover the porridge while you assemble the toppings. Eat and enjoy.
Low Fodmap Congee
Equipment
- 1 4 qt saucepan
Ingredients
- 6 or 7 cups of boiling water
- 1/2 cup of short grain sushi rice (Some love jasmine long grain, but I prefer short grain sushi rice.)
- pinch of salt for rice mixture and also for boiling water
- 1/4 tsp canola oil
- 1/4 tsp sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp grated or minced fresh ginger. I would not use ground dried ginger in this dish.
- Toppings for Serving:
- Scallions diced up
- 4-6 boiled shrimp
- Splashes of soy sauce and fish sauce to taste
- salt and pepper to taste
- Place the 1/2 cup of rice in a strainer and spray it with cold water until the water runs clear. Place the rice in a small bowl.
- Low Fodmap Rice Congee-ibskitchn.com
- Add the baking soda canola oil and salt to the rice and mix it all into the rice. Set aside.
- In a 4 quart saucepan pour in the water and bring to a boil over medium high heat. When the water is boiling, stir in the rice mixture. Reduce the heat and cook at a low boil, uncovered, stirring constantly, until the rice begins to thicken.
- Then turn the heat down enough to maintain a bare simmer add the sesame oil and minced ginger, and keep cooking for about 20 minutes or more until the rice has thickened into a porridge or pudding consistency.
- During this time I cover the rice congee, but leave the top partially covered instead of covered all the way. This allows the steam to escape. I turn on my fan so that my windows don't steam up. lol.
- I also stir the porridge often so that it doesn't stick on the bottom of the pan. If the water boils down too much and the rice is still not soft and puddinglike add more. But if you keep your stove on a bare simmer, the water should last until the congee is thickened. Then turn off the heat and cover the porridge while you assemble the toppings. Eat and enjoy.
