• 1 cup (200 g) brown rice
• ½ cup (100 g) red split lentils
• 10 cups (2½ litres) vegetable stock
• 3 dried shiitake mushrooms – optional
• 5 cm ginger, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon salt
• sesame oil, sliced spring onions (scallions), crispy fried shallots and soy sauce, to garnish

Stewed peanuts

• 1 cup (140 g) raw peanuts
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon five spice powder
• 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed

First make the stewed peanuts. Put all the ingredients in a small saucepan with 2 cups (500 ml) water and stir well. Simmer over low heat for about 2 hours, until the peanuts are incredibly tender and soft. Keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t boil dry – add a splash more water if needed.

In a large saucepan, mix together all the remaining ingredients except the garnishes, then bring to the boil over medium heat. Turn down to a simmer, cover and leave to cook until the rice and lentils have softened and almost disintegrated, releasing their starch and thickening the liquid. This should take 1–1½ hours, depending on how thick you like your congee. Give it a stir every so often and add a little water if it seems to be getting too thick.

To serve, ladle some congee into each bowl. Top with a generous helping of stewed peanuts, and garnish liberally with sesame oil, spring onions, fried shallots and soy sauce.