Instant Pot Japanese Rice Porridge (Okayu)

Japanese Rice Porridge (Okayu お粥)

Japanese Rice Porridge (Okayu) is mostly made with Japanese short grain rice and water. Similar to Chinese Plain Congee.

You can enjoy this simple Japanese congee for breakfast, as a side dish, as comfort food when feeling unwell, or when in need of mild soft food that’s easy to digest.

During our visit to the Michelin-starred Burdock & Co, we were inspired to craft this Amy + Jacky’s Japanese Rice Porridge.

Excited to share with you the deliciousness of simplicity.

So our goal is to develop a tasty okayu recipe you can enjoy on its own, as a comforting side dish, or as a base for many creative dishes. While staying true to its simplicity.

What We Look for in a Tasty Japanese Rice Porridge

• Texture: Creamy starchy, silky smooth; fully cooked & softened rice, rice is not disintegrated or fully broken down; not watery but not thick, it has the right balanced water-to-rice ratio
• Taste & Aroma: We prefer dashi-flavored rice porridge for some umami flavors and aroma. But feel free to use water if you want plain rice porridge.

To add complexity to the porridge’s flavor, aroma, and mouthfeel, we’re using dashi and a combination of Jasmine rice and Calrose rice. 

So this is more of a Japanese-Chinese fusion okayu recipe.

How to Make Japanese Rice Porridge

Here are the ingredients for making Japanese Rice Porridge in Instant Pot:

Rice. Okayu is mostly made with Japanese short-grain rice. But we developed this Japanese congee recipe with a combination of Jasmine Rice and Calrose rice. The Jasmine rice contributes a nice aroma and texture; while the Calrose rice creates a better creamy starchy texture.

• Note: If you only have one type of rice, you can just use one type of rice to make this okayu recipe.

Dashi だし, 出汁 – Homemade Dashi Stock vs. Instant Dashi Powder

• Homemade Dashi Stock: Elevate the okayu’s flavors by making dashi stock from scratch. It’s quite easy! Substitute the dashi powder and cold water with 6.5 cups of homemade dashi stock.
• Instant Dashi Powder – Time-saving way to make a quick dashi stock with dashi powder and cold water. The porridge will still be tasty.

Tools for Japanese Rice Porridge Instant Pot Recipe

• Instant Pot Pressure Cooker (6qt)
• Pyrex Glass Measuring Cup
• Bamboo Wooden Spoon

Add Ingredients

Rinse rice under cold water, then drain well.

Add 86g Jasmine rice, 86g Calrose rice, 1 teaspoon fine salt, and 1.5 teaspoons (6g) dashi powder in Instant Pot.

Add 6.5 cups (1625ml) cold water in Instant Pot, then give it a quick mix.

Pressure Cook Japanese Rice Porridge

With Venting Knob in Venting Position, close the lid, then turn Venting Knob to Sealing Position.

Instant Pot Japanese Rice Porridge Cook Time: Pressure Cook Japanese Rice Porridge at High Pressure for 20 minutes, then Natural Release for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes of natural release, release the remaining pressure by turning Venting Knob to Venting Position.

When the Floating Valve drops, open the lid carefully.

Thicken Instant Pot Rice Porridge & Season

Heat up the Instant Pot using the “Sauté” function.

Stir the rice porridge until desired thickness and consistency. Then season the Japanese congee with salt if necessary.

Serve Japanese Congee

Garnish Japanese congee with your favorite toppings and seasonings like sliced green onions, sliced ginger, umeboshi (Japanese pickled plum), toasted sesame seeds, shredded nori (seaweed), or mitsuba (Japanese parsley).

Then, serve immediately.

What to Serve with Japanese Rice Porridge

This okayu recipe is designed to be a simple nourishing Japanese porridge.

You can serve it with Hard Boiled Egg or Ramen Egg (Japanese Soft Boiled Egg), pickled daikon radish or other tsukemono (Japanese pickles), sweet potatoes, squash, salmon, roe, carrot, or other vegetables.

Other Japanese recipes you may enjoy:

• Japanese Chicken Curry or Japanese Beef Curry
• Miso Soup
• Gyudon (Japanese Beef Bowl)
• Instant Pot Sushi Rice
• Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken
• Udon Soup
• California Roll
• Ginger Pork Shogayaki
• Oden (Japanese Fish Cake Stew)
• Kabocha Squash Rice

Enjoy Comforting Instant Pot Japanese Rice Porridge!

More Instant Pot Rice Porridge Recipes

• Instant Pot Chicken Congee
• Instant Pot Beef Congee
• Instant Pot Century Egg Pork Congee