Brown Rice and Green Tea Porridge

When Stephen and I were in Hawaii in last November, we found pretty much all of the food available in Waikiki to be either over price, terrible quality, or both. Over the course of 6 days, eating 3 meals a day, we found only 2 exceptions - the take out pizzas available from Wolfgang Puck Express, and an incredible soup we had as a side to a meal at a Japanese BBQ joint.

We noted the name of the dish on the menu, and hoped that we'd find a similar dish back home, considering that there is no shortage of Japanese restaurants in this glorious city we call home. Alas, no dice. I tried to Google the dish name in hopes of finding a recipe and also came up dry.

The broth was savory, but not over powering, and the main features of the soup were generous amounts of both long grain brown rice and assorted fresh herbs. It was delicate and delicious.

I almost forgot about it entirely... until I came across this recipe for Brown Rice and Green Tea Porridge a few days ago. It brought back memories of that amazing soup... I had to try it.


Chagayu, or tea rice porridge, is a Japanese specialty, meant to bring the body back into balance, restore energy, and build strength. Traditionally eaten after a fasting period, or for breakfast, it appealed to me as a way to build strength during/after a cold or flu, as an alternative to oatmeal at anytime, as as a great winter dish when one is in the mood for something slightly bland but definitely still tasty.

This recipe makes 5-6 servings, when I made it, it fed 2 of us till we burst for 2 meals. The original poster suggested adding greens to it, but I took it as an opportunity to dig into some of the exotic looking pickled vegetables at our local Asian supermarket.

Served fresh, with a healthy dash of Furikake, pickled mustard greens, pickled radish, and Japanese styled pickled cucumbers made it melt in your mouth savory dinner with just the right amounts of sweet, salty, and random bursts of crunchiness.

Best of all, it's vegan too!

Enjoy...

Brown Rice and Green Tea Porridge With Green Lentils

1 cup (220ml) short grain brown rice
1/4 cup firm green or brown lentils; (yellow or red lentils will not work)
3 green tea bags - No need to use expensive tea
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 cups water

Rinse the brown rice in water. Put in a large pan with 6 cups of water and add salt. Bring to a boil, then lower to barely a simmer and add the tea bags and lentils. cover and let slowly simmer for about an hour or more. Stir occasionally.

Take out the tea bags. If the consistency seems too watery, turn up the heat a tiny bit and simmer with the lid off. I cooked the consistency to a traditional porridge like texture, you may want to make yours more 'soupy'.

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