Have you ever heard of rice congee? It’s a simple, easy-to-make meal that is healing to your stomach and digestive system. Perfect for a cold winter afternoon, but often eaten in Asian countries for breakfast!
A week or two ago, I suffered from a bout of gastritis. Yes, even I have occasional issues that come up! For me it’s usually related to a stressful time, a few days of NSAID use in a row, or if I get on a kick of eating highly acidic and spicy foods non-stop. I will admit, my first time ever having gastritis was when I was working in a tequila bar, so now I try to steer clear of tequila for my stomach lining health (or maybe it's the lime juice!)
After a few days of having pretty intense pain every time I ate (but also if I didn’t eat for a long time), gas, bloating, and other symptoms I rarely have, I remembered there was a simple meal I could make to calm my symptoms.
This would be a great thing to eat if you have an ulcer, are just getting over a stomach bug, or must eat bland or starchy foods for another health reason. I can say from experience, this was the only thing I could eat for two days. It soothed and coated my stomach within minutes and reduced my pain 100%.
How to make it:
1 cup of medium to long-grain rice (preferably organic)
7-8 cups of broth or water (health bonus, use homemade bone broth!)
1-inch knob of fresh ginger or ½ tsp of powdered ginger
Use a heavy-bottomed stock pot and bring rice and the water or broth to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for about 1 hour. It will be a cohesive rice porridge without extra water sitting on top.
Serve in a bowl and top with a drizzle of toasted sesame oil and soy sauce. Add optional toppings: green onions, fried shallots or garlic, sesame seeds, chopped mixed herbs, or toasted seaweed.
*I forgot to add the ginger before cooking the second batch, but I was able to add in the powdered ginger after and it worked and tasted just as good!