Easy Chinese Seafood congee with shrimp/ prawn
User Reviews
5
141 reviews
Excellent
-
Prep Time
30 mins
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Cook Time
1 hr 30 mins
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Servings
4 people
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Calories
216 kcal
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Course
Main Course, Breakfast
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Cuisine
Chinese
Easy Chinese Seafood congee with shrimp/ prawn
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This Chinese seafood congee is made by simmering rice with dried scallops, honey dates, and ginger to create a savory porridge base, then adding marinated prawns towards the end. The recipe highlights making a prawn stock using prawn shells for deeper flavor and suggests various optional garnishes to enhance each serving.
Description
Easy Chinese Seafood congee with shrimp or prawn blends white rice cooked slowly in water or stock with the umami of dried scallops and the sweetness of honey dates. The prawn shells are sautéed with ginger to create a flavorful broth base, improving the depth of the congee. The prawns are marinated with sesame oil and Shaoxing wine before adding to the congee near completion, preserving their tender texture. This method yields a smooth, slightly thick porridge that integrates seafood flavors without overcooking delicate prawns. Optional garnishes like spring onions, fried shallots, and sesame oil add brightness and texture to the final dish.
This congee suits a comforting breakfast or light meal and can be paired with side dishes or eaten on its own. The recipe allows for substitutions of seafood or quick-cook methods for those wanting to shorten cooking time while keeping key flavor elements.
To speed up congee cooking, the notes mention soaking rice, freezing and blending rice grains, or cooking with pre-cooked rice briefly. Dried scallops and honey dates should be rinsed and soaked to soften. The recipe also advises keeping prawns refrigerated and adding them at room temperature for food safety.
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Ingredients
Marinade for prawns
- 8.8 oz Shrimp Keep the shells! (See Step A below)- if your prawns come without shells, go directly to Step B. You can also add other seafood such as squid, clams and fish but note that they take different amounts of time to cook, so add them at different periods of time. (Add the ones that take the longest to cook first, or prawns, fresh, shelled and deveined, 250g
- 1 Tablespoon sesame oil Pour the marinade into the pot of congee too when adding the seafood.
- ½ Tablespoon shao xing wine As above
For the congee
- 15 Cups water You can substitute with chicken or seafood stock. Note that you will need a HUGE pot. (If using 1 of the "quick cook" congee methods mentioned in the post above, such as freezing and blending the rice, you may not need so much water as the rice will break down more quickly.)
- 1½ Cups white rice I used Calrose but you can use long-grain jasmine or sushi rice. Some people feel that using short-grain rice helps shorten the cooking time as the starch is released more quickly.
- 10-15 dried scallops Add the soaking water to the pot of congee. To save money, use broken up conpoy which is cheaper- the scallops will be broken up during the cooking process anyway. For substitutes, see notes, conpoy, rinsed and soaked in hot water for at least 30 minutes
- 2 honey dates Add the soaking water to the pot of congee. These have large seeds in the middle which you may want to remove after cooking, before serving. Substitute: ⅛ teaspoon white sugar or to taste, rinsed then soaked in hot water for at least 30 minutes
- 2 thin slices ginger Wash but don't stress about peeling!
- 1- 1½ Tablespoons Shaoxing wine
- 2 Tablespoons fish sauce Used to create extra umami (especially if not cooking with stock), but if you don't have it just use salt
Seasonings- add after cooking the prawns in the congee
- ½-¾ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon ground white pepper Do not substitute with black pepper, they're not the same thing. White pepper is super strong so less is more here!, or to taste
Optional garnishing
- ginger ginger thinly julienned, spring onions chopped, fried garlic, fried shallots, a bit of light soy sauce etc
- spring onions
- garlic
- shallots
- light soy sauce
- sesame oil drizzle over each bowl
Instructions
A. If your prawns have shells- make prawn stock and you'll get a beautiful orange rice porridge
- Shell your prawns and put the meat and shells in 2 separate containers.
- Add the shao xing wine and sesame oil to the prawn meat and mix well, then cover & refrigerate. (Take the prawns (and any other seafood you may be using) out 10 minutes before you want to add it to the congee base so that it will be at room temperature before cooking, but not too early as seafood spoils easily.)
- Heat oil in the pot over medium-high heat and, when the oil is hot and shimmering, add the prawn shells & ginger. Be careful of oil splatter if your shells are wet.
- Turn the heat down to medium and stir-fry till the prawn shells are cooked and almost crisp. Keep pressing the prawn heads as lots of goodness is stored in there (but be careful that they don't fly out of the pot!)- this will take about 10 minutes. Add the 15 Cups of water/ stock to the pot and bring it to a boil.
- Reduce the fire to medium low and simmer for 15-30 minutes, after which you strain out the shells (and keep the liquid.)
- Optional extra step: if you really want to get all the umami out of the shrimp shells, you can blend the shells and liquid before straining out the shells.
- Continue to Step A2 below.
A2. If your prawns do NOT have shells- start from here.
- Add the 15 Cups of water/ chicken stock/ prawn stock that you made above to a pot and bring to the boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, add the rice and bring back to the boil.
- Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low then let the mixture simmer, making sure to stir every now and then to prevent the rice at the bottom of the pot from sticking and burning.
C. Add the seafood
- Once the congee is cooked to your desired texture- probably about 45 minutes (remember to keep stirring occasionally)- add the shrimp (and other seafood if using.) (Note: if you're adding the seafood at the 45 minute mark, take it out from the fridge at the 30-35 minute mark so that it's not super cold when it goes into the hot porridge- this helps to keep it tender!)
- Stir the congee till the shrimp/ seafood is cooked through then switch off the fire. Note that a properly cooked prawn or shrimp should have a "C" shape, in which the head and tail do not tough- if it has tightened into an "O" shape (i.e. the head and tail are touching), it's overcooked. (See the photo in the recipe post to see what I mean by "C" shape)
D. Serving
- Ladle out into individual bowls and garnish each with (optional) sliced ginger matchsticks, soy sauce, sesame oil, coriander, spring onions etc.
Notes
- Dried scallops can be substituted with broken conpoy to reduce cost as they will break down during cooking.
- Soak honey dates and scallops in hot water for at least 30 minutes to help soften them before cooking.
- Use prawn shells to make broth by sautéing with ginger to add a rich seafood flavor to the congee base.
- Refrigerate marinated prawns and add them last to avoid overcooking; bring to room temperature briefly before cooking for food safety.
- To reduce cooking time, soak rice before cooking, freeze and blend rice grains, or use cooked rice with blending to speed starch release.
Nutrition Information
Show Details
Calories
216kcal
(11%)
Carbohydrates
22g
(7%)
Protein
19g
(38%)
Fat
4g
(6%)
Saturated Fat
1g
(5%)
Polyunsaturated Fat
2g
(12%)
Monounsaturated Fat
2g
(10%)
Trans Fat
0.01g
(1%)
Cholesterol
109mg
(36%)
Sodium
1264mg
(53%)
Potassium
316mg
(7%)
Fiber
1g
(4%)
Sugar
3g
(6%)
Vitamin A
3IU
(0%)
Vitamin C
0.1mg
(0%)
Calcium
81mg
(8%)
Iron
1mg
(6%)
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 4people
Amount Per Serving
Calories 216 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 216kcal | 11% |
| Carbohydrates | 22g | 7% |
| Protein | 19g | 38% |
| Fat | 4g | 6% |
| Saturated Fat | 1g | 5% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 2g | 12% |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 2g | 10% |
| Trans Fat | 0.01g | 1% |
| Cholesterol | 109mg | 36% |
| Sodium | 1264mg | 53% |
| Potassium | 316mg | 7% |
| Fiber | 1g | 4% |
| Sugar | 3g | 6% |
| Vitamin A | 3IU | 0% |
| Vitamin C | 0.1mg | 0% |
| Calcium | 81mg | 8% |
| Iron | 1mg | 6% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Genuine Reviews
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
141 reviews
Excellent
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