Chinese clay pot rice is one of those extremely wholesome dishes that I could eat for the rest of my life. I've struggled a lot to make it in the past, but I've landed on a method that produces consistent results every time. My secret is using cooked rice which takes out a lot of the guesswork.
I've been eating clay pot rice my entire life. One of my earliest memories is having it with black bean ribs at dim sum with my parents. But the best clay pot rice I ever had was at a specialty clay pot restaurant in Hong Kong. I remember it was right outside our hotel and it was so tasty. The crispy rice on the bottom was the best part.
Plus, the classic Hong Kong experience of eating at a table with total strangers and cleaning your bowls and cups with diluted tea made the whole experience that much better.
Why I precook the rice
Plain and simple, I suck at cooking rice. I grew up with a rice cooker, so I never learned to cook it on the stovetop. In the past, when I made clay pot rice, I always had issues with the rice being undercooked. I would inevitably add more water, but the rice would end up mushy, and my constant stirring would break the grains apart. It wasn't pretty.
Now, I just use precooked rice, and guess what? It turns out fine. You might think it's slightly mushier, but I don't think so at all. It tastes perfectly good and much better than when I used to mess up the dish!
Components for clay pot rice
Stir-fried chicken: Because we are cooking the rice beforehand, you need to cook the chicken beforehand too. I marinated the chicken for about 40 minutes in soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, cornstarch, and some aromatics. For stir-frying, I used a nonstick pan as I find chicken sticks to the wok more easily than other proteins.
Chinese veggies: Claypot rice is not complete without some kind of Chinese veggies. My vegetable of choice is gai lan, but today I'm using yu choy because it was on sale. You want to boil the veggies until they are just barely cooked, about 15-20 seconds. You do not want to overcook them here as we will be finishing them in the clay pot.
Chinese sausages: To me, this is one of the best toppings you can have for clay pot rice. They are fatty and sweet and packed with so much flavor. Because they are so flavorful, I prefer to cut them into smaller pieces so you can maximize their contribution to the rice.
Dark soy sauce: I cannot imagine clay pot rice without some sort of dark soy sauce-based seasoning. I enjoy my sauce on the sweeter side, so I add a full teaspoon of sugar, but you can adjust this to your own taste.
Notes from grandma
Before I wrote this post, I consulted my wife's mom and grandma for all their knowledge on cooking clay pot rice. Her mom grew up in Hong Kong and her grandma grew up in Guangdong, which is the Cantonese-speaking part of China. They both grew up eating clay pot rice so they're kind of experts on the topic.
According to her grandma, they did not even have metal pots back then. Apparently, they cooked almost everything in clay pots, even plain white rice. Stoves were not common either so most of the time they cooked over an open fire.
The method she described to me was they would put equal parts water and rice into a clay pot. Once the rice was about 80% done, or when holes appeared on the top of the rice, they would add raw marinated chicken on top. When meat was scarce, they wouldn't even add chicken. They would just add an egg and maybe top it with green onions or peanuts for some crunch.
Once the chicken was cooked, they would melt lard on top of the lid, and the lard would seep down the rice and start crisping up the bottom. At that time, they would also prop the clay pot at an angle to the fire to allow the sides of the rice to crisp up as well.
Clay Pot Rice (my failproof method)
Ingredients
For the chicken
- ½ pound boneless chicken thighs
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon Shaoxing cooking wine
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic (1 clove)
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- 1 tablespoon oil
For the Chinese sausage
- 2-3 links Chinese sausage (sliced)
- 1 tablespoon oil
For the gai lan
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 2 pieces gai lan (stems and leafy parts separated)
For the sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
For the rest
- 4 cups cooked jasmine rice (make sure it is warm)
Instructions
- Slice the chicken into ¼-inch thick strips and transfer to a medium bowl. Add the soy sauce, cornstarch, Shaoxing cooking wine, garlic, ginger, and white pepper. Let this marinate for at least 40 minutes.
- Heat a nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the chicken and cook for 2-3 minutes until no longer pink. Remove the chicken to a bowl, leaving the oil behind.
- Reduce the heat to medium. Add the sliced Chinese sausages and cook for 1 minute until golden brown. Remove the sausages to a bowl and pour the leftover oil/fat into the clay pot. Add another tablespoon of oil to the clay pot. Set the clay pot aside.
- Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add the salt and sesame oil. Add the gai lan stems and cook for 10 seconds. Add the leaves and cook for another 10 seconds. Rinse under cold water, drain, and set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar until the sugar dissolves.
- Now time to add everything to the clay pot. Rotate the clay pot to get the oil/fat all over the sides. Add the warm cooked rice and spread it evenly around the pot. Layer on the chicken, the Chinese sausage, and the gai lan.
- Place the clay pot over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 10-15 minutes until the bottom is crispy. Pour the sauce mixture over the rice and enjoy!
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