A Meal in a Clay Pot

Claypot rice! The perfect local delicacy to warm up with. It takes very little effort to make (just a good deal of patience!), and most definitely classifies as a quintessential comfort food. They are often made with Chinese sausages (comprising of cured pork- the red ones, or duck liver- the dark brown ones) or minced meat (either beef or pork) with a raw egg, or in this case, a salted duck egg. There are also variations with chicken or black-bean pork. Most importantly, they are topped with a sweet soy sauce that ties the dish together.

You can buy the claypots at the small local variety stores, especially in the Sheung Wan area.

If you prefer to leave the cooking to someone else, here are some places to get them! One thing I do recommend asking about it whether they cook their pots on top of a stove, or are more commercialized and chuck them all into an oven. The key difference is that those on a stove develop that crunchy, crispy layer of burnt rice at the bottom that may just be one of my favourite things about this dish.

Wing Hap Sing

G/F, 113-115 Jervois St., Sheung Wan, 2850-5723

Ser Wong Fun

G/F, 30 Cochrane St., Central, 2543-1032

They also specialize in snake meat that is supposed to help with colds and flus!

Kwan Kee (2 branches)

Shop 1, Wo Yick Mansion, 263 Queen’s Rd. West, Sai Ying Pun, 2803-7209 

243-245 Des Voeux Rd. West, Sai Ying Pun, 2803-0215

See after the jump for more photos and recipes!

I made 2 variations in this photo. The basic instructions for the marinade and rice are actually very similar– just switch out the 'toppings'!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups rice
• Vegetable of your choice (bak choy and gai laan work well)
• Sweet soy sauce (available at most supermarkets!)

Marinade:

• 2 tablespoon light soy suace
• 1 tablespoon oyster suace
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• Optional: 1/2 tablespoon Chinese rice wine, or 2 teaspoon sugar

Topping:

• 3/4 lb minced beef or pork
• 1 salted egg

OR

• 1 link worth of Chinese sausage, sliced diagonally
• 5 mushrooms

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Marinate the pork and/or Chinese mushrooms with soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sesame oil and leave for 30 minutes
2. Wash and rince rice until water is clear
3. Brush a few drops of oil in claypot to prevent too much sticking
4. Place rice and water into claypot and cook on medium to low heat until holes appear (7-10 minutes)
5. Place minced pork onto rice, make a small groove in the center, and crack salted egg on top OR place mushrooms and Chinese sausage on top of rice
6. Cover and cook on low for 15 minutes or until all water has been absorbed and meat is cooked through
7. Add vegetables of choice (bak coy, gai laan etc.) and steam for an additional 5-10 minutes
8. Serve with drizzles of sweet soy sauce

Since we were on the topic of claypots, I decided to get some 'put chai ko', sticky rice pudding, for dessert. These are traditionally made in claypots and contain sugar, flour, and red beans. They are now usually sold in little plastic containers– considerably less charming, I know! You can find them in hawker carts and in wet markets. There is one at the corner of Lan Kwai Fong outside of the Milan Station store, and another down in the Graham Street market.