In the winter, we eat a lot of Vietnamese Cháo – rice porridge, sometimes called congee or jook in other Asian cuisines. It’s very filling, easy on the stomach, especially when you’re sick, fill of peppery goodness. It was always the sick soup that my parents prepared for me when I was growing up, so I like to make it for my husband whenever he’s under the weather.
Cháo Bo, or Vietnamese Rice Porridge with Minced Beef always hits the spot, and it’s very easy to make. You can use water (instead of beef stock), but personally, I love the depth of flavor that beef stock adds. You also don’t need to salt or add fish sauce when you use beef stock.
Ironically, I hated cháo when I was growing up. I equated it with being sick, but now I absolutely LOVE it.
The Instant Pot is my go to kitchen appliance when making cháo. It simplifies the process and makes it much easier for me. I think there is something wonderful about stovetop cháo, but if I’m feeling sick, I don’t want to fool with it.
If you haven’t tried my Instant Pot Chicken Cháo recipe, you should check it out. It’s our family’s favorite, but I love ground beef and we always have it on hand, so recently, I made Instant Pot Ground Beef Cháo (Minced Beef Vietnamese Rice Porridge).
Your rice to water or stock ratio will vary, depending on the consistency that you like. I love thinner cháo (congee/jook), so I add a lot more water. If you like thicker rice porridge, add less water. Here’s what I recommend:
- More watery, thinner cháo: 1 cup rice to 10 cups water
- Thicker congee: 1 cups rice to 7 cups water
If your Vietnamese Rice porridge doesn’t come out with the thickness consistency that you like, it’s easy to fix! You can either add more water (using the saute mode) to thin out the congee. Or you can use the saute mode and cook off the water and make it thicker.
Enjoy this delicious Instant Pot Ground Beef Cháo Rice Porridge.
Instant Pot Ground Beef Cháo Vietnamese Rice Porridge (Congee)
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb ground beef
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 6 cloves garlic, sliced
- 1 cup jasmine rice
- 10 cups beef stock (or water)
- 1 knob (1/2 inch) ginger, peeled
- 1 small onion, peeled and left whole
- ground black pepper, to taste
- scallion, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Marinate the ground beef with fish sauce and 1 teaspoon ground black pepper. Set aside for a few minutes.
- Rinse the jasmine rice a few times with cold water to remove the impurities. Set aside.
- Using the Instant Pot on "Saute" mode, add the marinated ground beef. (No need to add oil. The beef will render fat as it cooks.)
- When the beef has started to release its fat, add the sliced garlic and saute until the garlic is soft. About 2 minutes.
- Add the beef stock (or water), rice, the whole onion and knob of ginger.
- Click "Manual" and cook on High Pressure for 15 minutes.
- When it's done, manually release the pressure and open the lid. Remove the onion and knob of ginger.If you used water (not beef broth), taste the rice porridge. Season with salt or fish sauce to desired saltiness.
- If you prefer more watery porridge, add more water on "saute" mode until it's the consistency you want.If you want thicker porridge, use "saute" mode and cook the congee (rice porridge) down to be thicker.
- To serve, fill a bowl with the Vietnamese Chao. Add thinly sliced scallions on top and a very generous grind of black pepper. The more black pepper, the better when you're sick. It will open up your nose.
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