Vegetarian Congee (-Cháo Chay Thập Cẩm)

Porridge is always an easy dish to make and suitable for every age from babies to the elderly. According to my Asian philosophy, mixed vegetarian congee is the best breakfast for the entire family, simply because of the way and the value of the ingredients included. Usually in the morning when our stomach is empty, a bowl of porridge is easy to digest, and if the porridge is made with quality ingredients, it supplies excellent nutrition to the body throughout the day. Start the day happy. If we nourish the body with good food, it will be the soul’s salvation.

Ingredients:
6 cups good vegetarian broth
1/3 cup rice, washed and drained
1/4 cup oil
8 oz. tofu
1/2  cup of corn, carrots , daikon (cut to the size of corn kernels), and soybeans (edamame)
1 small sweet potato or taro diced
3 cups of a combination of fresh, sliced mushrooms: oyster, shitake, and button
1 small white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt, black pepper, and sugar to taste
Garnish with:
Chopped green onions, cilantro, and crispy shallots
Fried skin tofu (optional) Chinese crispy crullers (dau chao quay)

Directions:
In a medium pot over medium heat, add 2 tbs of oil and add rice. Stirfry the rice until opaque. Add broth, sweet potato, corn, carrots, daikon and soybeans, and bring to boil. Cover pot and turn the heat off.

In a sauté pan, add the rest of the oil and increase temperature to hot. Divide tofu into half. Cut them into small bite-size pieces and fry half of the tofu until brown. Remove from oil.

After one hour, uncover lid, add fried tofu and fresh tofu. Bring to simmer. season with salt and black pepper

While the congee is simmering, in the same sauté pan used to fry the tofu, rmove some of the oil and add white onions and garlic. Stirfry until fragrant.

 Stir in mushrooms. Season with salt, pepper, and sugar. Cook until mushrooms are wilted. Add to the congee and bring to a boil for a few minutes.

Laddle soup into a serving bowl. Garnish the soup and serve with fresh chopped hot chili and Chinese crispy crullers.