Shrimps Chicken Multigrain Congee Porridge

A few days away from daylight savings when we turn our clock back an hour. The days are getting shorter and temperatures are down to sweater weather.

A warm wholesome bowl of multigrain congee (this Rice Cooker /Multicooker will be useful) is a welcoming meal as we embrace autumn and winter. Call this Surf and Turf as shrimps (prawns) and ground  meat (pork, chicken) are added to the otherwise plain bowl of congee made from brown rice, millet, quinoa.

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Shirasu Whitebait Millet Porridge/ Congee

One of the taboos during Chinese New Year is not to eat porridge /congee on the first day of Chinese New Year because porridge (seen as food for the poor) brings poverty. It is now way past the fifth day of Chinese New Year, so no more food taboos! Besides, it is unseasonably cold here in California almost the middle of February, so a bowl of piping hot porridge instantly delivers warmth and comfort in the chilly nights of winter.

As natural as how the body works, when we grow older, we should revert back to eating like a growing baby? Exaggeration, you might say. The point is, consuming easily digestible food like this Shirasu Millet Porridge, especially during the night does not overload our digestive system and works better for the body.


A one-pot millet porridge/ congee, cooked with high-in-calcium shirasu (sardine whitebait), zinc-rich organic ground chicken, iron-packed watercress and beta-carotene-loaded carrots, is nutritious, wholesome yet light and comforting. For vegetarian, omit the chicken and fish in this recipe, and try this Kabocha Squash Millet Congee.

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Spinach, Kabocha Squash Millet Congee 菠菜南瓜小米粥

This definitely looks like baby food!!! Well, but it should also ease into an adult's palate, especially when one is under the weather or simply yearn for a one-pot hot "something" on a cold winter night. Congee it is!

A quick, soothing and warm one-pot millet congee with baby spinach, kabocha squash and some ground chicken (optional if vegetarian).


Millet is highly nutritious. It contains B-complex vitamins such as niacin, thiamin, and riboflavin; also high in iron, magnesium, phosphorus, manganese, and potassium. This millet congee is flavorful, warm and soothing and the entire dish can be accomplished in less than 30 minutes from prep. to finish.

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Kabocha Squash Millet Congee 日本南瓜小米粥

Congee (rice porridge, rice gruel) is such comforting food. Other than using rice grains, I enjoy using millet 小米 as millet gives congee a smoother consistency.


This Kabocha Squash Millet Congee 日本南瓜小米粥 was adapted from a pumpkin oatmeal porridge 南瓜燕麦粥 recipe from a Chinese recipe booklet that I have.

Cooking this is simple.


Kabocha Squash Millet Congee 日本南瓜小米粥
Ingredients: 1/4 kabocha squash, cut to bite-size; handful of broccoli; 1/2 cup millet; fried shallots (as garnish and flavor)

Directions: Boil some water, add in millet and when the millet starts to boil, add in squash cubes, and allow it to come to boil again. Once bubbling, turn down heat and allow millet and squash to simmer to cook. If mixture gets too thick, add more water. Once millet and squash are cooked, turn off the heat, add in broccoli and cover the pot and let the remaining heat in the pot cook the broccoli. This way, the broccoli turns out perfectly cooked (still crunchy) and not overcooked. Garnish with fried shallots - that adds aroma and flavor too.

NOOOooo...this is not baby food, even if it looks like one. OK. Even if it is baby food, so what? Hee heee...it is my cup of tea!


Tag: kabocha squash, millet congee, congee

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Egg Congee with Peas and Roasted Peanuts

We have heard that when you have a bowl of thick smooth silky Cantonese congee, it is made from a variety of rice - glutinous, "broken" rice (碎米), etc.; or selecting a starchy grain such as short-grain (Source: Food-4tots' Superfast Congee). The characteristics of each type of grain renders (make or break) the texture of that congee. So here, my Millet Congee with Egg and Sweet Peas (cooked all in a pot!), then garnished with roasted peanuts!

I classify millet as a grain/seed which easily breaks down to gruel-like consistency. Without overnight soaking of the grain/seed AND in less than 30 minutes, we have a simple and nutritious carbs. of the day. Oh, should be 2-in-1 protein-and-carbs-of-the day! Breakfast, lunch or dinner - they all work for me!

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Quinoa, Millet and my Four-Grain Congee

With my naked eyes, I could only tell the difference by color(see below). Quinoa and Millet - some of the other (newer) grains I have recently adopted in my brown rice + red cargo rice + pasta carb-group. My latest craze must be walking down the grains, seeds and nuts aisle in Whole Foods. Like a teen or toddler in a candy shop, I got hooked on those see-through dispensers and transparent containers of grains, seeds, nuts etc. Practically, I just buy the quantity I want by turning those (irreversible) knobs. How dangerous for a shopper on a budget...

Left: Quinoa; Right: Millet

Other than the Pine Nuts I've got (the other nuts are replenished from Trader Joes otherwise), I also bought my quinoa and millet from Whole Foods. The ANDI (stands for Aggregate Nutrient Density Index) surely comes handy along the way, making it so much more interesting to choose my grains and nuts. Handy ANDI!

Quinoa Congee
I am totally new to quinoa though I have often seen them appearing in food blogs. But I am not new to millet and they look almost similar. If I could use millet to cook my congee, surely I can use quinoa? No idea. Just try. That less than 1 dollar worth of quinoa dispensed from the builk aisle is surely not going to be an expensive mistake. What can go more wrong than cooking congee ?

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Millet Congee - millet grains or "bird seeds" ?

Millet is a grain (seed). I did not know how nutritious it is, until my friend introduced them to me. She uses millet when she cooks congee for her child. Then, I started to discover more about millet. It is easy to digest and highly nutritious. Millet is also a good source of protein, fiber, B-complex vitamins such as niacin, thiamine, and riboflavin. These "bird" seeds are high in mineral content such as manganese, magnesium and phosphorous; and rich in phytochemicals. Definitely, if I make millet congee, it will make a heart-healthy dish for Heart of Matter - Seeds and Things.


Millet Congee - 小米粥
Ingredients: Millet, short-grain or long-grain rice, water

Directions: Lightly rinse the millet and rice in water. Heat a pot of water (depending on the congee consistency you prefer, you can adjust the quantity of water accordingly) and when water boils, add the grains into the water and allow to cook for 20-30 minutes till millet and rice are cooked.

See these bunches of millet? They can be used to make Chinese millet wine.


Tag: millet, congee