Living in a cold climate hasn’t changed my eating patterns much at all. As the days get colder and family sniffles abound, I find myself seeking out cruciferous salads and foods with medicinal, restorative qualities as a natural defence mechanism. Lately, my body has been calling out for broccoli, Brussels sprouts and collard greens (I need a whole post to write about my love of collard greens!). The other resounding bodily demand has been for warming foods, like noodle soups and my childhood comfort food, congee.

As with many of the traditional Cantonese dishes I grew up eating, congee has always intimidated me. Even though it is made with the most humble of ingredients, in the simplest of ways, when it came to cooking congee, I found myself paralyzed by a fear of culinary failure. How could my congee possibly be as good as my mother's?

However, as often happens when I move away from my mother, the responsibility to cook Chinese food now falls firmly upon my shoulders. So this week, I decided to conquer my fears and embrace my destiny by cooking congee. My version, however, is not quite traditional. You could say it has been given a little 'Arthur Street Kitchen treatment', featuring brown rice, quinoa and a punchy little ginger relish. The other ingredients of black eyed peas, peanuts, shiitake mushrooms and star anise are influences from my mother.

Nutritional and medicinal, congee is not just for cold weather. In fact, it is much the opposite. It never really made much sense to me, but my mother often cooked congee on the hottest days. The reason is similar to why people who live in the hottest climates eat spicy food – the idea is that by eating warming food, it will raise your internal temperature to match the temperature outside, hence increasing your blood circulation, causing you to sweat, and once your sweat has evaporated, you’ve cooled off! Phew, that was long-winded. Perhaps my real is point is, no matter what the weather, whether it is subzero like it is here in New York, or hot and sweaty like it is in Australia, it’s always the season for a bowl of congee.

Brown rice and quinoa congee with shiitake and ginger

Traditionally, Chinese add anything from sesame, coriander sprigs, peanuts and yaw char gwai (a Chinese doughnut-like bread fried in oil) to their congee, but my childhood favourite was chopped shallots and swig of Maggi seasoning which gave an indistinguishable, delicious umami taste. For this recipe, I’ve created an aromatic ginger, shallot and sesame relish which will give your congee a real kick.

| Serves 4 |

½ cup brown rice
½ quinoa (white, black, red or combination of all three)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
40g dried shiitake mushroom, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes
20g ginger, unpeeled and sliced
2 small cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
50g blanched raw peanuts
80g black eyed peas
1 star anise
About 8 cups hot tap water
Coriander sprigs, to serve

GINGER, SHALLOT AND SESAME RELISH

40g ginger, peeled and finely chopped
3 Chinese shallots (scallions), finely chopped
½ green chilli, finely chopped (remove seeds if you don't want the heat!)
½ tsp sea salt
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp sesame oil

MAKE

This congee will take 1.5 to 2 hours to cook, simmering away gently on your stovetop.

Begin by combining the brown rice and quinoa in a medium saucepan and rinse well in water – do this until the water runs clear. I like to get in there and scrunch the grains with my fingers – this removes the starch from the rice and also the bitterness from the quinoa. Pour off the water.

Drain the mushrooms, and thinly slice.

Add the oil and salt to the rice and quinoa and combine well. Pour over about 8 cups of water, cover with lid and bring to a gentle boil. Then add the shiitake mushrooms, sliced ginger, garlic cloves, peanuts, black eyed peas and star anise. Turn the heat down to a very low simmer, cover with lid and allow to cook gently for 90 minutes to 2 hours. Every 10 minutes or so, give the congee a stir. You may have to remove the lid every now and then to allow the steam to escape. A good way of doing this is to lay one chopstick on each side of the saucepan, then rest the lid on top of the chopsticks, leaving a gap for steam to escape. Add more hot water if it seems too thick.

While the congee is cooking, make the ginger relish by combining all the ingredients in a bowl. Stir together.

Your congee is ready once it is thick and creamy, similar to the texture of porridge. Remove the garlic cloves and, if you like, the ginger slices (I like to leave mine in as I love cooked ginger!). Taste and add sea salt and white pepper to your liking. Ladle into individual serving bowls and spoon over some of the ginger, shallot and sesame relish and add coriander sprigs.