Claypot Chicken Rice

Claypot chicken rice is popular in many Asian countries, for example: Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore, but I’ve always cheated with a rice cooker when making it at home.

I’m very certain that you will like what you see on Bon Vivant!

There are so many wonderful ways to cook a meal these days—from the blink of a microwave to the meditative warmth of braising in an oven. Despite the array of ‘modern’ gadgets like the slow cooker, pressure cooker and the microwave, I must profess that I’m decidedly old school in owning none of these.

On the contrary, I actually enjoy the waiting (and the work) involved with the slow cooking process. It’s like having front-row seats at the Evolution of Dinner; you’re witnessing the transformation of food from it’s raw, organic state into one capable of bringing you to gustatory heaven.

When I started cooking for myself, I appreciated the “quick weeknight” recipes found in the pages of any magazine. These were functional, utilitarian meals designed to satisfy hunger and send me off to bed for a good night’s rest.

What I really looked forward to on the weekends though, was the time I could have to spend in the kitchen: I relished the four hours it took to transform perfectly smooth tomatoes into scabs of tomato confit and thought nothing of burying soft, plump pieces of cod in salt for a month for home-made bacalao.

I loved having to plan for a meal, sometimes weeks in advance, savoring the prelude of daily preparations before the big show…

The ultimate goal of these seemingly unnecessary, laborious processes (in the face of modern appliances), was in coaxing out the real, true flavor of whatever was being prepared.

Before I tasted my own, I tempted myself with the imagination, envisioning what the final dish would be like, aided by Thomas Keller’s poetic prose and suchlike.

After the meal, the memory would linger, along with a satisfaction deepened by the knowledge that it was a meal that I felt I had truly worked for, in a manner so tangible, concrete and worlds apart from the conventional notion of ‘work’ that we subject ourselves to everyday.

So, in a tribute to slow-cooking and the primal, mouth-watering reactions borne out of wrestling with taunting aromas on an empty stomach, here’s a classic Chinese claypot dish, just the way my mother prepares it.

It’s a breeze to put together and tastes absolutely delicious, but you’ll have to give it time, over low heat, to get there. Although traditionally cooked over a short and stocky charcoal stove and monitored with a hawk’s eye, you could also use a deep cast-iron pot over the stove or the always reliable rice cooker to do the job.

You’ll just be missing out on the spirals of smoke that work its way into the claypot to augment the heady combination of rice wine and sesame oil for a deeper complexity on the palate.

The timings in this recipe were tailored for claypot use on a gas or an electric stove, so adjust the cooking time accordingly if you’re planning to cook this over a charcoal fire.

Also, don’t fret if the ingredients at the base of the pot burn a little – these are actually the best bits of the dish, adding a satisfying crunch to every bite. You can read more about claypot cooking here and here.

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Claypot Chicken Rice Recipe

Servings 4 people

Claypot Chicken Rice - chicken, cornstarch, Chinese rice wine, sesame oil.

Calories 326 kcal

Author Bee | Rasa Malaysia

Ingredients

For the chicken:

• 1 pound chicken meat, from the thighs or breast, deboned and sliced into 2-inch pieces (450 grams)
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 3 teaspoons Chinese rice wine
• 3 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1 pinch salt

Claypot rice:

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 piece ginger, peeled and thinly sliced (2-inch)
• 1 ounce dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated in hot water and sliced (28 grams)
• 2 ounces dried Chinese sausage, Lap Cheong, sliced (56 grams)
• 10 ounces white rice, rinsed in cold water until the water runs clear and drained (280 grams)
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• ¾ cup water, at room temperature
• 5 ounces leafy green vegetables like bok choy, gai choy, dou miao or spinach, rinsed and roughly chopped (140 grams)
• 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

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Directions

For the chicken:

1. 1

   Whisk the cornstarch, rice wine, sesame oil and salt in a bowl, then pour it over the chicken pieces, mixing well to coat. Set aside for 30 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Claypot rice:

1. 1

   Heat the oil in a wok or a deep frying pan, then add the garlic and ginger, frying until fragrant. Add the marinated chicken and stir. When the meat starts to brown, add the mushrooms and chinese sausage, stirring for a minute to mix well.

2. 2

   If you're using a claypot, place it on a hob and turn the heat to low.

3. 3

   Add the rice to the wok and turn the heat to high, mixing as you go to allow the rice to fully absorb the flavor of the other ingredients. Add the light soy sauce and sesame oil to the wok and keep stirring and mixing for another 2 minutes.

4. 4

   Turn off the heat and transfer the contents of the wok to the claypot. Add the water, then cover and increase the heat to medium.

5. 5

   Leave the ingredients to cook for about an hour, checking-in every 15 minutes and giving the rice a stir or two.

6. 6

   After an hour, add the vegetables, cover and turn the heat to low for 10 minutes.

7. 7

   Drizzle the dark soy sauce and sesame oil over the vegetables and serve, with the claypot as your centerpiece.

Nutrition Facts

Claypot Chicken Rice Recipe

Amount Per Serving (4 people)

Calories 326 Calories from Fat 324

% Daily Value*

Fat 36g55%

Saturated Fat 13g81%

Cholesterol 97mg32%

Sodium 703mg31%

Potassium 568mg16%

Carbohydrates 66g22%

Fiber 2g8%

Protein 31g62%

Vitamin A 1740IU35%

Vitamin C 18.7mg23%

Calcium 74mg7%

Iron 2.4mg13%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Chinese

Keyword: Claypot Chicken Rice