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    Home » All Recipes » Main Dish » Pressure Cooker Chicken Congee with Brown Rice

    Pressure Cooker Chicken Congee with Brown Rice

    Published: Jan 30, 2019 Updated: Jul 25, 2020 by Sophie 9 Comments

    2.3K shares
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    This Chicken Congee with Brown Rice is an improved version of Vietnamese classic chicken congee. It is healthier, more flavorful and will keep you full longer. Cooking this congee with a pressure cooker yields a perfect creamy texture in a short amount of time.

    This Chicken Congee with Brown Rice is a classic Vietnamese congee made in a healthier and more flavorful way. Cooking this congee with a pressure cooker such as an Instant Pot yields a perfect creamy texture in a short amount of time. Very easy and tasty!

    Why You Should Use Brown Rice to Cook Congee

    Brown rice is whole-grain rice, which means it is less processed than our regular white rice. As a result, brown rice retains more nutrients and fiber than white rice. Therefore you will feel full longer when eating brown rice instead of white rice.

    Moreover, brown rice also has a nuttier and richer flavor than white rice. Congee (also called rice porridge) made with brown rice will give you more health benefits and flavors than congee made with just plain white rice.

    How to Use Brown Rice to Cook Congee

    It is easy to use brown rice for congee as long as we keep several things in mind. Brown rice is not as starchy as white rice and it is harder to digest than white rice. That is why I recommend using a mix of brown rice and white rice to make porridge instead of going with 100% brown rice. Keeping some white rice ensures the congee will still have a silky, creamy texture and be light enough on the stomach.

    In the same amount of cooking time, brown rice doesn’t absorb as much liquid as white rice, so we should use less liquid. We will also need to increase cooking time. For example, in my Ground Pork Congee recipe which used 100% white rice, I only needed 10 minutes of pressure cooking. With this brown rice congee, I needed more time than that.

    How to Cook Chicken Brown Rice Congee

    Chicken Congee (chao ga in Vietnamese) is a very comforting and delicious dish. It can be eaten in any meals and we especially love to eat it when the weather is cold or when we don’t feel well.

    Ingredients

    You will need brown rice, white rice, whole chicken or chicken parts with bones, aromatics, seasonings, and herbs.

    For white rice, you can use long grain white rice like jasmine rice, short grain like Japanese or Korean rice, or sticky rice. Short grain white rice and sticky rice are both starchier than jasmine rice. When I make this, I use short grain white rice.

    Rice, aromatics and herbs for chicken brown rice congee
    Rice, aromatics and herbs for this chicken brown rice porridge

    Of all the aromatics suggested in this chicken congee recipe, ginger is the one you should not skip. If you don’t have garlic, shallot or dried shiitake mushrooms, it’s okay but the congee is less delicious quite a lot if you don’t add ginger.

    Also, try to find kaffir lime leaves since it adds another dimension of flavors and brightens the dish. I mentioned in my Chicken Vermicelli Noodle Soup how well chicken goes with kaffir lime leaves in Vietnamese cuisine. You can buy them at Asian grocery stores, usually in the frozen section. They freeze very well.

    When eating this brown rice porridge, you can add more toppings such as fried shallots, Chinese cruellers or even crispy fried wonton strips.

    Cooking Chicken Congee with Pressure Cooker

    Using an electric pressure cooker such as an Instant Pot is the best way to cook congee. To me, delicious congee should have a silky, creamy texture while each individual grain is soft and still discernible.

    If you are short on time, you can definitely throw everything straight in your Instant Pot and hit Start. I personally like to use the Sauté function to sauté the aromatics and rice to bring out their flavors before pressure cooking. It doesn’t take much time to do that :).

    Then we can pressure cook it for about 25 minutes. After that, let it release pressure naturally before opening the lid. Finally, adjust seasonings and serve the congee with a lot of fresh herbs and your favorite toppings. My favorite topping for congee is fried dough sticks (youtiao/quẩy) and you can try my homemade youtiao recipe.

    This Vietnamese Chicken Congee with Brown Rice is an easy and healthy dish to cook in your pressure cooker (such as an Instant Pot). It is Vietnamese classic comfort food.

    I’d love to hear what you think about this dish, so please feel free to leave a comment. New recipes are added every week so let’s connect on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for the latest updates. You can find my collection of Vietnamese recipes here.

    Pressure Cooker Vietnamese Chicken Congee with Brown Rice. A healthy, comforting and delicious dish to make in your Instant Pot.

    Pressure Cooker Chicken Congee with Brown Rice

    This Chicken Congee with Brown Rice is an improved version of Vietnamese classic chicken congee. It is healthier, more flavorful and will keep you full longer. Cooking this congee with a pressure cooker yields a perfect creamy texture in a short amount of time.
    5 from 4 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Breakfast, Main Dish
    Cuisine: Vietnamese
    Keyword: brown rice porridge
    Prep Time: 5 minutes
    Cook Time: 55 minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour
    Servings: 3 people
    Calories: 622kcal
    Author: Sophie

    Ingredients

    • 1/2 cup brown rice
    • 1/4 cup white rice (see Notes for suggestion)
    • 3 dried shiitake mushrooms (optional)
    • 1 chubby thumb-sized piece ginger, thinly sliced
    • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
    • 1 tablespoon thinly sliced shallots
    • olive oil
    • 2 lbs chicken pieces with bones (I use a whole young chicken)
    • 4 1/2 cups water (or half water, half chicken stock)
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 1 teaspoon fish sauce
    • black pepper
    • scallions, thinly sliced
    • cilantro, roughly chopped
    • 3 kaffir lime leaves, sliced very thinly (optional)

    Instructions

    • Prep all ingredients. Rinse the rice under water. Submerge dried shiitake mushrooms in hot water for 3-4 minutes to rehydrate them (if using). Slice ginger, shallot and mince garlic.
    • Turn on your pressure cooker and choose Sauté mode. Once the pot is hot, add a little olive oil. Add shallot, ginger slices and garlic and sauté until fragrant. Add both brown and white rice and continue to sauté for 30 seconds to a minute. 
    • Add chicken, 4 1/2 cups of water (or half water, half chicken stock), dried shiitake mushrooms (if using) and salt to the pressure cooker. Switch to pressure cooking mode and cook for 25 minutes.
    • Once pressure cooking period is over, let the pressure cooker release pressure naturally. This may take 15-20 minutes. 
    • Carefully open the lid, remove the chicken pieces and shred the meat. Discard the bones and skin.
    • Switch the pressure cooker to Sauté mode, gently stir, add a teaspoon of fish sauce (more or less to taste). Adjust the consistency of the congee by adding more water or heat it longer with Sauté mode.
    • Add chicken meat back to the pot to warm it through. Transfer congee to servings bowls, top with plenty of freshly cracked black pepper, scallions, cilantro and other toppings you like.

    Notes

    For white rice, you can use long grain white rice like jasmine rice, short grain like Japanese or Korean rice, or sticky rice. Short grain white rice and sticky rice are both starchier than jasmine rice. When I make this dish, I often use short grain white rice.
    When I use a whole chicken to cook this dish, I usually par-boil the chicken for a couple of minutes. You can use a combination of chicken pieces with bones such as thighs and drumsticks.
    Don’t stir the congee too much or too vigorously after it is cooked. We don’t want to break the grains too much.
    If you don’t have garlic, shallot or dried shiitake mushrooms on hand, it’s okay to skip them. However, do not skip ginger.
    There may be some slight differences among different brands of electric pressure cookers, so experiment with cooking time to achieve the consistency you like.
    If you are short on time, it is okay to throw everything straight in your Instant Pot and hit Start. I personally like to use the Sauté function to sauté the aromatics and rice to bring out their flavors before pressure cooking.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 622kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 42g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 154mg | Sodium: 1097mg | Potassium: 506mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 0g | Vitamin A: 290IU | Vitamin C: 3.6mg | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 2.5mg
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Jenn

      April 16, 2022 at 8:10 pm

      5 stars
      This was sooo comforting and amazing and easy to make. I fried up some ginger, garlic and shallots to put on top in an aromatic oil and it was fantastic!

      Reply
    2. brown thai rice

      April 12, 2022 at 10:14 pm

      Indeed! It’s simple to make congee with brown rice if we keep a few things in mind. Brown rice is less starchy than white rice and thus more difficult to digest. Thank you.

      Reply
    3. Peale

      November 23, 2021 at 10:45 pm

      5 stars
      Loved it. I wanted to make a healthy congee to have when I was put on a soft food diet for a week after surgery. This hit the spot.

      Reply
    4. Nadia

      February 03, 2021 at 12:12 pm

      Hi, is the 622 kcal per serving or for the total 3 servings?

      Reply
      • Sophie

        February 18, 2021 at 4:24 am

        Hi Nadia,
        It’s 622 kcal per serving.

        Reply
    5. Brie

      August 25, 2020 at 8:34 pm

      5 stars
      Love the brown rice and flavors! Thanks for the info of using brown vs white rice.

      Reply
      • Sophie

        August 31, 2020 at 5:52 am

        Hi Brie,
        Thank you so much for the feedback! I’m glad you liked it and found the info helpful :).

        Reply
    6. Jen

      November 10, 2022 at 5:36 pm

      5 stars
      So quick and easy, I love this congee recipe so much. I used extra garlic and shallot, fresh shitake, and half chicken broth half water because of personal preference. I used bone in chicken thighs and used chicken bouillon instead of salt to season to taste. It came out perfect, ratio of water to rice was also perfect. Will definitely make again.

      Reply

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