Miso Congee with Clams 味噌蜆肉粥

This recipe was created by accident. I was cooking plain congee on Friday night to go with our favourite grilled rainbow trout and stir-fried vegetable. When the congee was almost done, I ransacked the fridge for some spring onion and saw packs of instant miso lying on the side-tray that are expiring in a month's time. I was thinking when I should use them and it struck me that I could add miso into the plain old congee like how I mix Marmite into my congee!

The instant miso pack contains seaweed and clams as well, how convenient is that? You may add more ingredients like seafood, chicken or pork, but the miso congee tastes just as good by itself.

Ingredients
1 cup short or medium-grain rice
12 cups water
2 tsp oil
3 packs instant miso
2 stalks spring onion, chopped

Method
Wash and rinse the rice several times. Place rice in a pot, add water and bring to a boil. Add 2 tsp oil and let congee boil for another 10 minutes. Lower heat and simmer partially covered for 1 hour, stirring often to prevent the rice from sticking the bottom of the pot. Cook till the congee reaches your preferred consistency.

When congee is done, add miso and stir well, cooking for further 3-5 minutes.

Turn heat off and serve, garnished with spring onion or coriander.

Note
Do not cook the congee with lid covered as it will overflow and cause a big mess to your stove. It happened to me several times even when I left the pot partially covered. So do keep an eye when cooking your congee.