Savoury rice porridge recipes

January 18, 2018 6:10 AM

Looking for nutritious grain or rice porridge recipes that I can make in my rice cooker.

I got this Panasonic rice cooker for Christmas. There is a five cup version of the same rice cooker and I feel kind of silly having the ten cup version when I'm often just cooking two or three cups of rice. I'd like to make use of the porridge/soup setting to make large batches of food which I can freeze.

I'd probably serve the porridge with tofu and vegetables, but bonus points if it's also tasty enough to eat on it's own in a pinch. While I prefer savoury, I also wouldn't mind recipes which would traditionally be served sweet.

Can you please recommend your favourite recipes? I have access to a wide variety of ingredients and am open to suggestions from any cuisine. My main concern is just that I don't destroy my rice cooker, so the recipe needs to be suitable for rice cookers.

Thanks!

posted by kinddieserzeit to Food & Drink (9 answers total)

If you’re open to breakfast ideas, I highly recommend this brown rice porridge with jam and hazelnuts from Sqirl, which has been my breakfast template for a few weeks now.

I tend to skip the sugar, because I think adding jam makes it sweet enough. I have also substituted other spices for the (expensive) vanilla bean - I really like cardamom, and did a great version with a bay leaf and cinnamon stick. I’ve also subbed in different nut milks, and other nuts for the topping.

Not quite sure how to adapt for a rice cooker, but I’m sure it’s fairly straightforward.
posted by amelioration at 6:21 AM on January 18, 2018

Google "rice cooker congee." Tons of recipes for Chinese-style savory rice porridge.
posted by Weftage at 7:02 AM on January 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

I like to do a brown rice and barley congee type porridge.

About 2/3 brown rice, 1/3 barley
some nori or kombu seaweed for umami
garlic, ginger, onion
dash of fish sauce
drizzle/mix in some beaten eggs near the end
serve with soy sauce and dark vinegar
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:04 AM on January 18, 2018

Congee!! Here's an example with chicken and shiitake mushrooms in the rice cooker. But there are endless savoury variations - my favourite is century egg with pork. So hearty and filling and definitely tasty enough to eat on its own.
posted by mossicle at 7:04 AM on January 18, 2018

Maangchi has a couple of recipes for Korean-style rice porridge. I haven't made these specific recipes, but everything else of hers that I've tried has been great.
posted by tobascodagama at 7:04 AM on January 18, 2018

I know you've asked for porridge recipes but just wanted to throw it out there that I often make the max amount of rice my rice cooker can handle (I have a little guy so only like 6 cups cooked) let it cool then put individual portions into ziplock bags and freeze them. I microwave the frozen rice when ever I need it and it tastes just as fresh as when I made it. It's soooooo convenient especially when I'm looking for a quick meal.

Ok, as you were!
posted by tealeaf522 at 7:25 AM on January 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I should have added I have done a lot of googling on this subject, but a lot of the recipes I've found use a stove or pressure cooker, not a rice cooker. So when it comes to measurements of rice/grain/bean/water, I'm a bit lost. I really need to know proportions.
posted by kinddieserzeit at 7:27 AM on January 18, 2018

Rice porridge in a rice cooker is almost impossible to mess up, assuming your rice cooker is big enough, and it sounds like yours is. It just depends on what kind of texture you’re after. Thicker Japanese style okayu is usually a 5:1 water to rice ratio, while a thinner Cantonese jook is more like 12:1, but you could literally do any amount of liquid in between and end up with something edible.

Generally rice porridge is more about what you add in at the end than an actual recipe, and you can add pretty much anything you want. Ginger, green onion, soy sauce, black vinegar, century egg, pork floss, sesame, sweet corn, miso, fish balls, pickled greens...the list goes on and on.
posted by Diagonalize at 7:54 AM on January 18, 2018 [3 favorites]

I'd suggest khichdi, which depending on where you are can be anything from a nearly pilaf-like combination of rice and lentils to a porridgey dal-rice stew. This one has measurements and is closer to the pilaf end; the stew-like ones I'm finding for the rice cooker don't have measurements, but once you've made a few batches of porridge in your cooker I'm sure the proper amount will become clear.
posted by jocelmeow at 8:26 AM on January 18, 2018 [1 favorite]