It was my turn to provide dinner snack for about 15-20 people and I didn’t have much time to fuss so I made Clay Pot Rice, which is a popular Cantonese one-pot rice pilaf. Chicken is the most popular meat to put in this pilaf but the ingredient that makes it distinctive is lap cheung, Chinese sausage, which gives it a rich fragrance of cured meat.
In Cantonese this is called yau mei fan or sar poh fan. Traditionally, this is cooked in sar poh or clay pots but street side restaurants now sometimes replace sar poh with functional aluminum look-alikes which are quite unattractive. At home you can cook this in a regular or cast-iron pot or an electric rice cooker. Meat (pork, chicken or beef) is marinated and then added to the hot rice just when the water starts to be absorbed.
In addition to lap cheung and chicken, I added dried scallop, dried mushroom, peas and carrots. The Costco in Fairfax, Va, sells really good Chinese sausage made in San Francisco.
This is a simple, one-pot meal that you can make for two people. But with a large pot, or a large rice-cooker, you can make it as easily for a larger group.
For a larger group, I prefer to cut the chicken and sausage in smaller pieces, but if I made it for four or fewer, I’d cut them in larger, bite sized pieces.
Special note: This is made with regular, long grain rice. There is a similar recipe made with glutinous or sticky rice.
Clay Pot Rice
Serves 10
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
2 chicken boneless thighs, cut into ¾ inch cube
2 tablespoons oil
½ cup onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
6 medium size mushrooms, soaked and cut into ¾ inch cube
¾ cup frozen peas, thawed and drained
¾ cup carrots, cut in ¾ inch cubes, blanched and drain
5 dried scallops, soaked and broken into pieces (optional)
6 links Chinese sausage, cut into ½ inch chunks
4 cups rice*
Water
Marinade for chicken
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine
¼ teaspoon salt
Dash of white pepper
½ teaspoon cornstarch
Seasoning sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce (optional)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons chicken stock
Marinate chicken in soy sauce, wine, salt, pepper and cornstarch for about 30 minutes. In a separate bowl, combine oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil and stock and set aside.
Heat a large pan or wok, add oil and when oil is shimmering, add onion and stir quickly. Add garlic, and when aromatics start to soften, add mushroom and fry for 1 minute. Add chicken and fry for another minute. Chicken should not be fully cooked. Add peas, carrots, scallops and Chinese sausage and fry to combine, about half a minute. Remove meat ingredients from heat and set aside.
If using a pot on stove top: Wash rice in a 5-quart pot until water is clear. Add water to reach 1 inch above the top of the rice. Bring rice to a boil. When water starts to boil rapidly, reduce heat to low and simmer until water is almost absorbed. Quickly spread all the ingredients in the wok over the top of the rice. Cover and allow rice and meat ingredients to cook for another 10 minutes. When rice is cooked, toss rice and meat and dribble the seasoning sauce over rice and meat and mix well. Cover and let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving. Test taste and add more soy sauce, as needed.
If using a rice cooker: Wash rice, add enough water to reach the 4-cup mark in the rice cooker. Bring rice to a boil by pressing the “cook” button. After the rice had been brought to a boil and water is almost absorbed, spread meat ingredients over the top of the rice. Cover lid and continue to let rice cooker steam rice and meat until the “warm” button comes on. When rice is cooked, dribble seasoning sauce and mix into meat ingredients and rice. Cover and let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Notes
*Use 3 cups rice if using standard measuring cup. Use 4 cups rice if using cup provided with rice cooker.
Variations
–Instead of using chicken thigh, use half a chicken with bone in, chopped in bite size pieces.
–Add two slices of ginger when frying onion and garlic.
Glossary of Ingredients
Click here for more on:
Soy sauce
Shaoxing wine
Chinese mushroom
Dried scallop
Chinese sausage
Dark soy sauce
Oyster sauce
Sesame oil
