Vegan instant pot congee with mushrooms

Instant pot congee is comfort food made convenient! The pan seared mushrooms add a nice umami flavour!

Rice porridge/congee is a comfort food in every region where rice is a staple grain. Served hot, thick congee makes a comforting breakfast dish in rice eating cultures. The type of rice used and the side dish it is served with differs from region to region.

Congee may be the easiest thing to cook, but preparing it on the stove top, does need some babysitting so that rice does not stick to the bottom of the pan and burn. However, instant pot congee needs zero babysitting. It is as easy as dump and go!

Congee on it’s own does not have a lot of flavour or texture and the pan seared mushrooms add both flavour and texture! Drizzle some chili oil and soy sauce and you have a comforting bowl right there!

FAQs

Is it faster to cook congee in the instant pot?

It is NOT a LOT faster, a little yes. Although the actual cook time on Instant pot is 20 minutes, it takes about 5 minutes to reach pressure and about 15 minutes for pressure to release, so a total of 40 minutes from start to finish. On the stove top it takes 50 minutes to an hour. While instant pot does not make congee significantly faster, it does make it easier! Am always in for a no-stir instant pot congee!

What kind of rice to use?

If you like soft, starchy, thick congee use starchy white rice like Jasmine rice, Japanese rice. Any kind of white rice for that matter, will result in a soft starchy congee.

If you like some texture, you may want to go with brown rice. Soak brown rice before cooking to make it cook faster.

I love the aroma and flavour of Jasmine rice, so I use Jasmine rice or broken Jasmine rice to make congee.

What is the rice to water ratio for congee?

It depends on personal preference. In the instant pot, for white Jasmine rice, my go-to ratio is 1:8, 8 parts water for 1 part rice. With this ratio, when I open my instant pot after Normal pressure release, I get a nice creamy congee like in the picture below. If you like it thinner, use 9 parts water and if you like it thicker, use 7 cups of water.

Do keep in mind that the congee will thicken as it cools down. To make it thinner, add more water and reheat.

Variations

• To cook congee, instead of all water, use a mix of vegetable stock and water.
• For a lovely coconut milk flavour, use a mix of coconut milk and water.
• If you like the flavour of shitake mushrooms, soak 2 dry shitake mushrooms in hot water to make a broth and use this broth instead of water. Chop the soaked shitake mushrooms and add into the pot.
• Chopped veggies can also be added when cooking to make a vegetable congee.

Serving vegan congee

Keep in mind that congee will thicken as it cools down. If congee is too thick for your liking, add more water and bring it to a boil. If you like it more thick, turn on the saute mode and cook a little further.

I like to serve congee with pan seared mushrooms as they add a lovely umami flavour, chili oil and some soy sauce. I also like to eat congee with my homemade vegan kimchi. If planning to serve with kimchi, I under season the congee as kimchi has enough salt in it.

Vegan instant pot congee with mushrooms

Shwetha

Easy rice congee paired with pan seared mushrooms, comfort food made convenient in instant pot

5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Pressure build and release 20 minutes mins

Course Breakfast, Main Course

Cuisine asian

Servings 3 people

Equipment

• Instant pot
• Heavy bottomed pan

Ingredients

  

• ½ cup jasmine rice or any white rice.
• 4 cups water check notes for variations
• 1 stalk lemongrass
• 1 inch ginger

For pan grilled mushrooms

• 8 oz mushrooms
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• ½ tsp mushroom stir fry sauce or use more soy sauce instead
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• 1-2 tsp oil

Additional toppings

• Chilli oil
• finely chopped green onions
• soy sauce

Instructions

 

Congee

• Add rice into inner pot of instant pot. Rinse the rice twice.
• Slice ginger. Smash lemongrass with the back of your knife, this will help it release its flavours.
• Add the ginger and lemongrass into the inner pot.
• Close the lid and set the valve to sealing.
• Select porridge mode on instant pot. It is a preset for 20 minutes in high pressure.

  Note: While the rice is cooking, prepare the mushrooms.
• In about five minutes, instant pot will reach pressure and the countdown will begin.
• Once the cooking time is done, let the pressure release normally, takes about 15 minutes.
• When pressure valve goes down, move the knob from sealing to release and open the lid carefully. Mix well.
  

Mushrooms

• Clean and slice the mushrooms. Note: To clean the mushrooms, quickly rinse and dry them immediately for the best sear.
• Heat a heavy bottomed pan, preferably cast iron, on medium heat. Add a teaspoon of oil and swirl.
• When oil is hot, place mushrooms on the pan making sure that they are not on top of each other. Do not cover

  NOTE: If they are crowded, they will get steamed instead of getting nice and golden.
• When one side turns golden, turn the mushrooms over so the other side can sear.
• When both sides are golden, turn the heat to low and add garlic powder. Stir for 15 seconds.
• Add dark soy sauce, stir fry sauce give everything a mix and remove off the heat so that the sauces do not burn.
  

Serving

• Carefully discard the lemongrass and pieces of ginger.
• Serve congee hot with the pan seared mushrooms on top.
• Top with chilli oil, green onions and enjoy!

Notes

• Congee gets thicker as it cools. Add water and reheat to make it thinner. 

Rice

Use any kind of white rice. Brown rice can be used if you like some texture in your congee.

Water

For my liking, I like to use 1 part rice to 8 parts water in instant pot.

Variations

To cook rice,

• Use half vegetable broth and half water instead of all water.
• Use half coconut milk and half water.
• Use broth made using soaking dry shitake mushrooms can be used instead of water. 
• Vegetables can be added in to make a vegetable congee. 

 

Keyword vegan congee, vegetarian congee