This vegan breakfast congee has been on my mind for years and it was almost in the cookbook, hot for food all day. Now it's here, with king oyster mushrooms that eat like shredded meat, tangy pickled bok choy, and whatever crunchy toppings you've got hiding in your pantry!

• why you need this breakfast congee in your life
• what is congee?
• how I season this vegan rice porridge
• the toppings for my vegan congee
• more vegan congee topping ideas
• tips for making the best vegan breakfast congee
• frequently asked questions
• vegan breakfast congee

Congee has been on my "to make" list for years. I've wanted to make it, eat it constantly, and figure out every possible way to bowl it up, and now, finally, here it is. This vegan breakfast congee was originally developed for hot for food all day, my second cookbook, but it didn't make the final cut. That's your gain, because it landed here instead!

Before we get into it: congee isn't just for breakfast. It's a deeply cozy, endlessly adaptable rice porridge that works any time of day. Once you make it, you'll be looking for excuses to eat it at every meal.

Congee is also known as zhou (中国), okayu (Japan), juk (Korea), lugaw (Philippines), or jok (Thailand) and it's a rice porridge made by simmering rice in a large amount of liquid until the grains break down into something silky, thick, and deeply satisfying. It's a dish with thousands of years of history, originally traced back to ancient China where it served both as everyday nourishment and as a gentle, medicinal food.

Across east and Southeast Asia, congee adapts to local flavour profiles. Chinese congee ranges from savory to sweet with an enormous variety of toppings and proteins. Japanese okayu is more restrained, simple and delicate, often served during illness or recovery. Korean juk is hearty, sometimes made with mixed grains. Filipino lugaw leans on garlic, scallions, and a hit of calamansi. Thai jok is aromatic, layered with herbs and condiments. The common thread? All of them are blank canvases waiting for delectible toppings.

Most congee recipes I researched are fairly lightly seasoned during cooking, with all the flavor coming from toppings. I went a different direction. I add a lot of flavourful ingredients into the cooking rice itself! Soy sauce, mirin, sesame oil, and fresh ginger all go directly into the congee as it cooks. The result is a savory, umami-forward porridge base that's genuinely delicious even before a single topping lands on it.

Is this traditional? Not entirely. Do I care? Not even a little, especially when something tastes this good.

• homemade pickled bok choy: tangy, bright, and the perfect contrast to the rich porridge base
• shredded and seared king oyster mushrooms: seasoned and cooked until they have a slightly meaty, fibrous texture that gives serious shredded-pork energy
• crispy fried onions: straight from my pantry (same ones used in my mujadara), for crunch
• micro greens: a fresh, green contrast
• scallions: always in my fridge, always going in

I also added a yo! egg fried vegan egg here, which I happened to have on hand. If you don't, a tofu scramble or my egg yolk sauce from hot for food all day would be incredible here. That was the original cookbook vision! You can also find the egg yolk sauce recipe in my breakfast trifle here.

The beauty of this recipe is that the base is a vehicle for whatever you've got. If you have a copy of hot for food all day, pull out some of these for next-level bowls:

• mung bean scramble (pg 17)
• fried tofu from the clubhouse sandwich (pg 66)
• roasted purple cabbage (pg 88)
• crunchy butter beans (pg 96)
• tempeh bacon chunks (pg 100)
• crispy onion strings (pg 194)

No cookbook? No problem. Raid your fridge and pantry, use leftover roasted vegetables, marinated tofu, chili crisp, sesame seeds, nori, pickled anything. There are genuinely no rules here. Let your cravings guide you!

• use a 1:8 or 1:10 rice-to-liquid ratio for a properly silky, broken-down congee
• stir occasionally and keep the heat low, you're not rushing this!
• season the pot: don't wait until serving to add flavour
• make a big batch. Congee reheats beautifully with a splash of water or broth
• don't skip the textural topping... you need something crunchy to contrast the creamy base