Every now and then when The Hubs and I are eating out, we fall in love with a dish and immediately think “we need to make this at home”. One of these was Claypot Steamed Rice. After researching different recipes and techniques online, we’ve now made the dish 3 times with varying degrees of success. I’m still not 100% confident each time we lift the pot lid if every grain of rice is cooked and that if we scrap the bottom, there will be a wonderful layer of crispy burnt rice, but we’ve definitely figured out some tips to increase the probability.
My father-in-law keeps warning us about how he’s cracked multiple clay pots over the years, so we’re extra cautious each time we cook with ours. To help prevent any cracking, make sure to season the pot before use. We soaked ours for 24 hours in water and then cooked a small batch of congee, starting with low heat for 10 minutes and then medium until cooked. Do not eat the congee.
- 1 seasoned clay pot (1.5 to 2 quart capacity)
- 1 cup of white rice
- 1 cup of water
- 1 Chinese pork sausage
- 1 Chinese liver sausage
- 2 inch chunk of cured pork belly
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tsp pinch of sugar
- A pinch of white pepper
- Chopped green onion for garnish
- Rinse the rice until the water runs clear and add to the pot along with an equal amount of cold water, soak for one hour.
- Cook on low heat for 10 minutes to gradually warm up the pot (never start at high heat), and then turn the stove up to medium and steam for another 30 minutes. Do not lift the lid while the rice is cooking for these first 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, place the Chinese sausages and pork belly on top of the rice and steam for another 10 minutes, or until the rice is cooked. This part may take a bit of experimentation to get the timing down pat depending on each stove and pot. If you find the rice is still uncooked (grains are hard and flakey), poke a few holes with a chopstick, add a small amount of water (less than a quarter cup), and steam for another 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and let sit. In the meantime, take the meats from the pot and slice up. Mix together the sauces, sugar and white pepper.
- Top the rice with the sliced meats and sauce mixture, mix it all together and garnish with green onion.
Soak rice and prep ingredients
Cook the rice and prep the sausage to be added once the rice is cooked
Once the rice is 90% cooked, add in the Chinese sausage and cook for another 10 minutes
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