Buddha Congee

[Unlearner]

I've been looking for some recipes and foods lately that will support good health of both mind and body. One of those I recently took an interest in is called Laba Congee, also known as Eight Treasures Congee or Buddha Congee, and is made during one of the festivals in many Asian countries. The recipe for this varies greatly, but seems to be made up of rice/grains, nuts, fruits, and beans, made into a porridge. I'm interested to see if anyone else has tried making this and what their experiences with it are.

 

Also, if anyone has any other suggestions for foods that fall within a Buddhist (or Taoist) diet, I would very much like to hear them.

[C T]

Be helpful if you indicate your general diet preferences, like, are you vegetarian, vegan, allergies etc.

 

Im Asian, but have never heard of the congee mentioned above. Maybe its specific to certain Asian regions, not sure.

I know Taiwanese congee is simple to make and tastes wonderful. Just a handful of ingredients... rice, filtered water, yellow sweet potato, roughly diced, 5/6 air-dried scallops (conpoy), and a few goji berries. Some folks like to add 3 or 4 dried red dates just to give the congee a boost of subtle sweetness, but i dont cos the sweet potato is sufficient for that purpose.

 

My fav congee of all, one which i couldn't tire of when living in Hong Kong, is the salted lean pork, ginger, and century egg congee. Really really tasty and nutritious.

 

Sample recipe: http://www.tastehongkong.com/recipes/how-to-cook-congee-with-salted-pork-and-century-egg-a-classic-hong-kong-rice-porridge/

 

Congee is such a complete meal in itself, and so simple to make. Especially in the colder months.

In some Chinese communities, a fave congee meal for the whole family is simply made with rice, water, ginger, a little sea salt, and pork liver, sliced thinly and added to the pot after the heat is turned off so as not to overcook the liver. Garnish then with cilantro and/or spring onion, a few drops of sesame oil, and deep-fried, thin rice noodles.

 

If you're interested i might be able to link you to some Asian congee recipes.

 

Yum!

[C T]

CT, would you mind pointing out some vegetarian congee recipes?

 

Oh yes, vegetarian Jook (congee) are also yum yum yum!! Glad you asked!

 

In Malaysian Chinese communities, and i suppose in most Chinese communities, a tasty, nutritious vegetarian congee must have certain air-dried ingredients, for example, dried gojis, dried enoki or shiitake mushrooms, dried seaweed, dried daikon, dried dates, dried peanuts, dried green vegetables like Asian spinach or kale, the list can go on and on, so best to see whats available at the local Asian stores. Tofu, both the fried and fermented variety, is also another key addition to any Asian jook preparation. A most essential ingredient in all congee dishes in my home is ginger, which takes away the 'windiness' thats often associated with 'wetty' dishes.

 

This site offers some really good recipes for vegetarian jooks...

http://www.yummly.com/recipes/vegetable-congee

[Unlearner]

Be helpful if you indicate your general diet preferences, like, are you vegetarian, vegan, allergies etc.

 

Im Asian, but have never heard of the congee mentioned above. Maybe its specific to certain Asian regions, not sure.

I know Taiwanese congee is simple to make and tastes wonderful. Just a handful of ingredients... rice, filtered water, yellow sweet potato, roughly diced, 5/6 air-dried scallops (conpoy), and a few goji berries. Some folks like to add 3 or 4 dried red dates just to give the congee a boost of subtle sweetness, but i dont cos the sweet potato is sufficient for that purpose.

 

My fav congee of all, one which i couldn't tire of when living in Hong Kong, is the salted lean pork, ginger, and century egg congee. Really really tasty and nutritious.

 

Sample recipe: http://www.tastehongkong.com/recipes/how-to-cook-congee-with-salted-pork-and-century-egg-a-classic-hong-kong-rice-porridge/

 

Congee is such a complete meal in itself, and so simple to make. Especially in the colder months.

In some Chinese communities, a fave congee meal for the whole family is simply made with rice, water, ginger, a little sea salt, and pork liver, sliced thinly and added to the pot after the heat is turned off so as not to overcook the liver. Garnish then with cilantro and/or spring onion, a few drops of sesame oil, and deep-fried, thin rice noodles.

 

If you're interested i might be able to link you to some Asian congee recipes.

 

Yum!

 

I'm not vegetarian specifically, but I have no opposition to vegetarian meals, so I'd be interested in finding as much as I can.

 

The Laba festival is in China, though supposedly the actual dish is originally from India. I'm not very familiar with congee, I'd never really heard that term before a few weeks ago, although I was familiar with the Vietnamese equivalent, chao, from my girlfriend (whose family is from Vietnam).

 

Some of those recipes sound pretty good, and I'm usually up for trying new types of food.

[Gerard]

Here are some:

 

1. Herbal (Some are not vegetarian though)

 

2. All sorts (not just congee) but TCM based.