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You are here:Home  /  Recipes  /  Claypot Chicken Rice

Claypot Chicken Rice

April 16, 2010 53 Comments
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Claypot Chicken Rice - chicken, cornstarch, Chinese rice wine, sesame oil. | rasamalaysia.com

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 so glad that Danielle of Bon Vivant—a gorgeous food blog with great writing, mouthwatering recipes and food photography—is sharing her claypot chicken rice recipe with us.

Danielle is a Singaporean who lives in the bay area; I applaud her dedication and patience in preparing this claypot chicken rice. Check out her wonderful guest post below and don’t forget to hop over to Bon Vivant for more awesomeness. I

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

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

Servings 4
Author Bon Vivant

Ingredients

For the chicken:

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

Claypot rice:

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

Instructions

For the chicken:

  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. 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. If you're using a claypot, place it on a hob and turn the heat to low.
  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. 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. Leave the ingredients to cook for about an hour, checking-in every 15 minutes and giving the rice a stir or two.
  6. After an hour, add the vegetables, cover and turn the heat to low for 10 minutes.
  7. Drizzle the dark soy sauce and sesame oil over the vegetables and serve, with the claypot as your centerpiece.

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53 COMMENTS... read them below or add one

  1. David

    April 16, 2010 at 4:03 PM

    Thanks for sharing,I love the setup, and clay pot rice is awesome!Cheers

    Reply
  2. Cecilia

    April 16, 2010 at 4:34 PM

    I love claypot chicken rice but never have the patience to make it at home. I tried once and the rice at the bottom of my claypot was so burned but the upper side was not cooked. I also like to add some salted fish on top of it. I love this dish. YUMMY!

    Reply
  3. mary-anne

    April 16, 2010 at 6:09 PM

    We LOVE claypot rice especially the crunchy part on the bottom. Seafood, chicken, beef all so yummy in this comfort dish. Thanks for sharing the great recipe. I have only made the Vietnamese style w/caramel sauce on the bottom-can’t wait to try this recipe.

    TIA!

    Reply
  4. DailyChef

    April 16, 2010 at 5:17 PM

    I love claypots, and chicken rice too! Another great recipe :) I’ll try to find the time to make this over the weekend!

    Reply
  5. Tuty @Scentofspice

    April 16, 2010 at 7:05 PM

    Danielle,
    Will this work in rice cooker?
    Wonderful photos and very nice recipe too.

    Reply
    • Danielle

      April 17, 2010 at 10:55 AM

      Thanks Tuty! Yes you can – just transfer the wok-fried grains of rice to the rice cooker, add water and leave to cook.

      Reply
  6. El

    April 16, 2010 at 8:01 PM

    Looks like it turned out great. Such beautiful, beautiful pictures!!!

    Reply
  7. Andrea

    April 17, 2010 at 1:18 PM

    I’ll have to consider getting a clay pot. They are a great cooking vessel and so rustic. FYI, Puerto Rican’s call the crunchy bit at the bottom of the pan pegao.

    Reply
  8. lingzie

    April 17, 2010 at 5:44 PM

    claypot chicken rice is one of my all time favourite foods!! sadly though, the hawker stalls/food courts these days resort to ‘shortcuts’ when preparing this by cooking everything ready and just plop them into a claypot for a final heating up before serving :(
    time to get my own claypot! lol

    Reply
  9. Danielle

    April 17, 2010 at 7:22 PM

    Is that water amount right? We tried making this tonight, and had some trouble. The water was not enough, so we put it another 2 C (which made it look right), which I think was too much – we declared it done after something like 45 minutes total, and the rice texture was not quite right. To be fair, I’ve always sucked at making rice on the stove, even using my magically fantastic Chinese sand pot.

    Now, that said, it was absolutely delicious enough that I really want to make it again and debug and adapt the recipe more to my taste!

    Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Rasa Malaysia

      April 18, 2010 at 1:53 PM

      Danielle-please refer to Danielle (Bon Vivant)’s comment below regarding the water.

      Reply
  10. quick weight loss

    April 17, 2010 at 8:09 PM

    that looks really good! The kids will sure love this! thanks

    Reply
  11. kl_changs

    April 18, 2010 at 12:21 AM

    Looks fabulous! Thanks, Danielle.

    Would love to try out this recipe, even though I don’t have a claypot. Hope it works in my Le Creuset pot :P

    You mentioned that the heat should be low when u place the claypot on the hob. Is the heat turned even lower when you add the vege?

    Reply
    • Rasa Malaysia

      April 18, 2010 at 1:42 PM

      Hey KL Chang, please refer to Danielle’s reply below.

      Reply
  12. Alex

    April 18, 2010 at 4:57 AM

    Hi, Bee
    Another excellent recipe in your site!
    I want to make it today or tomorrow, but I am really not sure about water/rice ratio. 3/4 cup of water to 1 1/4 cup of rice doesn’t seem to be right.

    Reply
    • Rasa Malaysia

      April 18, 2010 at 1:44 PM

      Alex, please refer to Danielle’s comment below about the water ratio.

      Reply
  13. Danielle (Bon Vivant)

    April 18, 2010 at 12:54 PM

    My usual rice to water ratio is 5 ounces rice to 6 ounces (3/4 cup) water (147 grams rice to 170 grams water), and for this recipe, I halved the amount of water I usually use as I wanted to avoid overly-soggy rice in the final product. As a rough guide, the water level should match the level of rice when you pour it in. If the water is significantly higher than the rice level (such as when you cook in a rice cooker), then you’ve added too much.

    Danielle: 2 cups of water is too much for the amount of rice here. If you want to vary the amount of water, I’d suggest starting with 3/4 cup and adding more in stages up to a maximum of 1.5 cups. Try not to add too much at one go as it might make your rice too soggy and prevent the bottom layer of rice from crisping. Also, keep your heat as low as possible to gain more control over the cooking process. Good luck and let me know how it goes!

    kl_changs: If you’re using a Le Creuset for this, you won’t need to pre-heat your pot before adding the rice. I included that step for sand claypots as they’re susceptible to cracking when heated too quickly. For the vegetables, I turn the heat to low and let the residual heat from the pot and rice cook the greens.

    Alex: As I mentioned to Danielle, you could add up to a maximum of 1.5 cups of water for this amount of rice, but begin with 3/4 cup and add as you go. You will need to gauge how the rice is cooking for your pot and amount of heat to determine if more water should be added for the consistency that you’d like. Unlike the traditional way of cooking plain rice, the sesame oil and juices from the chicken and mushrooms also add moisture to the rice, hence my suggestion not to add too much water too quickly to avoid having an overly-soggy product.

    Thanks everyone for your comments and keep the questions coming!

    Reply
    • Alex

      April 19, 2010 at 4:52 AM

      Hi, Danielle,
      Thank you for your prompt replay.
      It is definitely a go, I’ll make it this week, when I am done with my lamb and lentils curry.

      Reply
  14. Marc @ NoRecipes

    April 18, 2010 at 9:28 PM

    Looks delicious. I could eat Lap Cheong staight out of the bag!

    Reply
  15. gina

    April 18, 2010 at 9:58 PM

    Thank you for this lovely recipe. We love chicken rice and this is another way of making it. Tried it last nite, not a grain left in the claypot…yummy!!
    I add the water, after the last frying process + seasoning, stir everything together then add the rice. So i have no worries that the flavours dont get to the dry rice. Wd appreciate, if you can give us the recipe for the chilli sauce that comes with chicken rice?
    More recipes please… :-)

    Reply
  16. Migration Mark

    April 18, 2010 at 11:38 PM

    Wow, I love this dish and thanks for the recipe! When I was in Penang, Malaysia, claypot chicken rice became my official comfort food.

    Reply
  17. the lacquer spoon

    April 19, 2010 at 9:00 AM

    I looove savoury rice with lots of ingredients! The aroma must be awesome during cooking, yum, yum :)

    Reply
  18. The Sudden Cook

    April 19, 2010 at 10:20 PM

    Wow! Totally agree that the burnt bits are the best part! I am a certified cheater – using the rice cooker and all.

    Reply
  19. GHD

    April 23, 2010 at 11:17 PM

    Great post,I love this dish and thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
  20. mlvn

    April 24, 2010 at 4:49 PM

    thanks for the recipe.the white claypot in the picture is totally out of this world.could u please tell me where to get it. thanks.

    Reply
    • Danielle (Bon Vivant)

      April 25, 2010 at 9:32 AM

      Hi Mlvn, they are from Sur La Table.

      Reply
  21. Kaven

    April 30, 2010 at 7:03 AM

    This is a different version of claypot chicken rice! :) It looks yummy.

    Reply
  22. Eleanor Hoh (WokStar)

    May 11, 2010 at 11:32 AM

    Danielle, you made me laugh out loud (a term I use when people’s writing makes me laugh involuntarily, I love it.) I share your philosophy about quick weeknight dinners vs special or weekend cooking. I completely empathize with the planning and execution process – all part and parcel of the whole dinner, exhausting but so rewarding.

    My mom who was born in S’pore makes this dish for us too but uses sticky rice and choy sum. Must be her personal spin, so addictive. You’ve inspired me to make this dish but over a weekend, ha, ha.

    Reply
  23. Esther

    May 25, 2010 at 6:08 PM

    Danielle, what is the purpose of the cornstarch used in the chicken? Or should it be corn flour?
    My water level matched the level of rice but my rice still turned out soggy. :(

    Reply
    • Danielle (Bon Vivant)

      September 1, 2010 at 11:24 AM

      Hi Esther, the cornstarch is used as a thickening agent so that the marinade coats the meat better and ensures that the flavors penetrate the meat.

      Reply
  24. ghd straighteners uk

    July 5, 2010 at 12:26 AM

    i like is very much thanks!

    Reply
  25. John

    July 30, 2010 at 10:29 PM

    Do you have a recipe for crab rice? or crab with vermicelli in pot?

    Reply
  26. ghd

    August 2, 2010 at 1:36 AM

    Wow! Totally agree that the burnt bits are the best part! I am a certified cheater – using the rice cooker and all.

    Reply
  27. cheap ghd

    August 12, 2010 at 6:59 AM

    This article is very useful, I have been looking for, thank you.Very good!

    Reply
  28. Gretch

    January 2, 2011 at 10:54 PM

    Just made this for lunch and it was absolutely fantastic! Thanks very much for sharing and I look forward to trying your other recipes :)

    Reply
  29. kian ming

    January 7, 2011 at 5:29 AM

    i think your cooking is a bit slow which is 30 minutes slower than normal, and quite eloborate in terms of ingredients.. but nonetheless..thanks…

    Reply
  30. Pauline Cheong

    January 15, 2011 at 7:52 PM

    there are variety of claypot chicken rice available. but i prefer without salted fish and mushrooms.

    Reply
  31. Florence C

    June 25, 2011 at 11:10 PM

    Thank you for all of the recipes you’ve posted (and guests have posted :] )! I’ve been following your blog for a whole and absolutely love your little anecdotes and pictures. I just recently purchased a clay pot from a Japanese “dollar” store (Daiso) and was wondering what is a “hob?” I tried looking it up but could not find any results. Thanks!!

    Reply
    • Rasa Malaysia

      June 25, 2011 at 11:18 PM

      Hi Florence,

      I am not sure. Where did you see the word hob?

      Reply
    • Peter Pantry Raider

      July 15, 2011 at 3:49 AM

      A hob is the flat top part of a cooking stove, or a separate flat surface, containing hotplates or burners. The kitchen stove tops that you see in the kitchen section of supermarkets are called gas hobs.

      Reply
  32. HooiFong Chee

    October 15, 2011 at 1:03 AM

    I cooked this tonight.. about 1 1/2 portion from the recipes.. using rice cooker instead of claypot.. cause I don’t have one. it taste good..

    Reply
  33. GL

    September 11, 2013 at 4:25 AM

    Can we use sliced beef to substitute for the chicken?

    Reply
    • Rasa Malaysia

      September 11, 2013 at 9:24 AM

      Yes, but it’s not claypot chicken rice if it’s using beef.

      Reply
  34. Safecook

    September 7, 2014 at 10:09 AM

    Wonderful! It looked so tempting; I wanted to cook it right away and tried it last night. It tasted fantastic. My family and I loved it. This one is going in my recipe book. I used my pure clay pot I got from mecware.US (online) to cook it and it was amazing. The unique far-infrared heat emitted from the walls of the pot let seasoning & spices penetrate deeper, giving you delicious food, perfectly cooked and healthy too, because it seals all the nutrients in the food. Here is the website I got my pure-clay pot from and also learnt the art of clay cooking.

    Reply
  35. Fenny

    April 23, 2015 at 6:26 PM

    Wow,thanks for sharing,gonna try to make this for my kids now..btw may I know where to get that white ceramics pot with handle like on your picture above?so cute :)

    Reply
  36. Serene Brown

    June 20, 2017 at 11:06 PM

    Can I marinate the chicken overnight instead the 30mins as stated in your method?

    Reply
    • Rasa Malaysia

      June 21, 2017 at 12:29 AM

      Of course.

      Reply
  37. Gina

    September 3, 2017 at 5:27 AM

    Hi, I’m from Malaysia! I tried the recipe for dinner tonight and it was the most delicious claypot chicken rice I have ever tasted! My husband and children loved it too.
    I made minor changes by adding 1 1/2 cups water instead of 3/4, and my cooking time was only about 25 minutes. I also omitted the vegetables.
    I will be cooking it again very soon, thanks:)

    Reply

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