Congee recipe

Yotam Ottolenghi offers his made-to-measure version of this popular Asian breakfast in his series of quick and healthy recipes.

This savoury rice porridge is popular in many parts of Asia. Normally when congee is served, the different condiments and garnishes are placed in little bowls on the side so diners can make their own personal creations. To avoid confusion, try this delicious made-to-measure Chinese version. The rice here is intentionally bland and smooth, easy to digest in the morning, with the various condiments bringing in diverse flavours and textures. You can easily omit some ingredients if you can't get hold of them or don't like them, and you can also add some others, such as the traditional salted egg or lettuce, or the less traditional fish sauce, coriander and lime juice. Congee is also a great user-up of leftover rice. If you do this, make sure you chill the leftover rice within one hour of making it and use within a day.

Congee rice porridge. Photograph: Franck Allais and Ed Johns for the Guardian

Serves 4

Roughly 800ml water
350g cooked white rice
A pinch of ground white pepper
1½ tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
40g fresh ginger, peeled and cut into thin strips
40g pickled bamboo shoots, thinly shredded
20g pickled radish, chopped or shredded
3 tbsp pork floss
2 spring onions, thinly sliced
2 tbsp deep-fried shallots
½ a red chilli, thinly sliced

1. Pour the water into a medium-size saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the rice and simmer gently for 20-30 minutes, stirring frequently. You may need to add some water at the end for the congee to reach the desired consistency, which is a little runnier than porridge, the rice having broken up and the water having turned starchy and gloopy.
2. Stir the white pepper into the congee, then divide the rice between the individual bowls and top with the remaining ingredients in the order listed.