Fish Congee II

| Lulu

I have vegetables coming out my ears, thanks to a generous microgarden and a biweekly CSA share from a local organic garden. I have stir-fried, baked, boiled, steamed, sizzled, sautéed, julienned, pressed, and pickled — and have enjoyed all of it. 🙂

I was trying to use what I had on hand, and it just so happened a soothing pot of congee was in my culinary stars. 🙂 From this box, I was able to use the carrots, yellow onion, shallot, and green bell pepper. I think maybe this is the BEST congee I’ve made thus far. NOTE: Fish Congee, Recipe #1.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1/2 cup broken jasmine rice ~ uncooked, rinsed twice, drained
  • 3 large fillets of white fish (I used Vietnamese Swai) ~ washed, cut into large chunks
  • 1 bunch chive flowers ~ washed, cut off about 2″ of the ends, then cut the rest into 1″ sections
  • 1 bunch organic cilantro ~ washed, chopped
  • 3 sprig scallions ~ washed, chopped
  • 4-5 organic carrots ~ washed, chopped
  • 1 large organic yellow onion ~ peeled, washed, sliced
  • 1 organic purple shallot ~ peeled, washed, sliced
  • 1 handful garlic cloves (yes!) ~ prepeeled, smashed
  • 1 handful dried, sliced shallots ~ I get this @ the Asian market
  • 1-2 organic green bell pepper ~ washed, seeds & stems removed, chopped
  • 1/2 cup vegetable soup seasoning
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • organic cane sugar to taste
  • olive oil
  • 10 cups filtered water

DIRECTIONS:

  1. In a large stainless steel pot, heat the olive oil on medium-high. Sauté the garlic, yellow onion, purple shallot, and carrots until an aromatic, golden brown.
  2. Add the fish and sauté until mostly cooked.
  3. Add the uncooked rice and dried shallots; stir all the ingredients for about 5 minutes.
  4. Add all 10 cups of water and bring to a rolling boil. Once it starts to roll, turn the heat back down to medium-high. (skim the broth as it boils and discard that foamy byproduct)
  5. Stir in the salt, sugar, and veggie seasoning. Turn the heat to low-medium and place the lid on, allowing the soup to simmer for about 15 minutes.
  6. Remove the soup from the stove.
  7. Stir in the green bell peppers, scallions, chive flowers, and cilantro.
  8. Serve garnished with freshly ground black pepper and chopped cilantro.