Traditional Claypot Rice
Who can resist a piping hot and delicious bowl of chicken claypot rice, complete with nicely charred bits of rice at the bottom? We have our home cook, food blogger @ The Burning Kitchen, Bee Leng, sharing with us her Traditional Claypot Rice recipe! The marinated chicken, chinese sausage and salted fish introduce a wonderful combination of flavours. By using a traditional claypot, you can bring out the unique ‘Char’ smell and taste – which is the result of burnt rice at the bottom of the claypot. All thanks to Bee Leng’s clear and accurate recipes written in her blog, this dish was a success even at first try!
“Cooking the rice in the claypot adds a special touch to the dish, creating the much coveted crusty layer of charred rice at the bottom.” – Bee Leng
The claypot rice is known to be originated from Guangdong province in China, and is a popular Cantonese dish. It is traditionally prepared atop a charcoal stove to impart a smoky flavour to the dish. You can achieve this flavour too by using a traditional claypot with your gas stove, which is what we have done in our video!
What are you waiting for? Grab the full recipe below now!
Preparation Time: 20 mins | Cook Time: 40 mins | Total Time: 1 hr
No. of Servings: 3 – 4 pax
Ingredients
3 cups of white rice, rinsed
2 ½ cups water, rice cup
2 tbsp cooking oil
3 pieces chicken thighs, cut into bite-size
2 chinese sausage
20g Salted fish (Ikan Kurau), cut into small pieces
25g preserved radish, shred and soak in water for 5 mins
4 bunch of chye sim
A pinch salt
A dash pepper
1 ½ tbsp dark soya sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbs garlic Oil
2 stalks spring onion, chopped, for garnishing
Chicken Marinade
1 1/2 tbsp Oyster sauce
6 slices ginger
1 tbsp cornflour
A dash of pepper
½ tsp salt
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp oil
1 tsp Chinese cooking oil (optional)
Cooking Directions
Step 1: Prepare the chicken & Chinese sausage
Marinate the chicken with the seasoning. Set aside.
Soak the Chinese sausage in hot water. Remove the waxed coating and slice diagonally. Set aside.
Step 2: Cook the rice and ingredients
Pour the rice, 2 ½ cups of water and a pinch of salt into the big claypot. Give it a stir and bring it to a boil over medium high heat.
5 – 7 minutes later, spread chicken in a single layer and top it with shredded radish, salted fish and Chinese sausage on the top of the rice. Do not stir. TIP: Laying the chicken in a single layer will allow it to be cooked evenly and the juice to be infused into the rice.
Reduce the heat to slightly below medium and cook for about 25 mins. Rotate the claypot every 5 minutes by tilting on the four sides. This will allow the rice to be cooked evenly. Also, it enables the smoke inside the pot to cook the chicken thus giving it a smokey scent.
Lower the heat and turn the pot straight up. Gently stir all the ingredients in the pot, but not the rice, to make sure they are thoroughly cooked.
Add in the Chye Sim, cover the lid and cook for another 5 mins.
Step 3: Ready to serve
When the rice is cooked, bring the whole pot to the dining table. Have a coaster at the bottom to prevent burning the table.
Open the lid, add in sesame oil, garlic oil and dark soya sauce and give it a good stir with all the ingredients. Adjust the taste to your preference.
Garnish with spring onion and serve while it is hot.
TIPS
Use 1/2 cups of water less than the rice amount. When the chicken is placed on top of the rice it will release juices which will compensate for reduced amount of water. If you use the same amount of water as the rice, the rice will become too soggy after it is cooked.
If your claypot is a brand new, fill it with water and soak at least overnight before using it. This will prevent it from cracking while cooking.
Recipe adapted from Bee Leng @ The Burning Kitchen
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