Hong Kong Claypot Rice (臘味煲仔飯)

When winter rolls around, the first thing that comes to mind is 煲仔飯 or Chinese claypot rice. Before there was the instant pot, there was claypot: the original one-pot meal. With claypot rice 臘味煲仔飯 you have everything you need for a delicious and satisfying meal: protein, vegetables, and rice! Claypot rice is the perfect meal on those particularly cold winter nights when you’re feeling lazy and you just want to throw everything together in one pot. The moment it starts cooking, you’re greeted with the most incredible aroma wafting through the kitchen; the smell of sweet and savory Chinese sausage mixed with the subtle smokiness of the charred rice. And of course, the presentation is absolutely stunning. The moment you lift the lid of the claypot at the dinner table, steam rising like a mystical fog, to reveal a beautiful assembly of Chinese sausage and vegetables lining the clay pot. Seeing this moment unfold is definitely why claypot rice is always a big crowd pleaser. For more about clay pot rice, keep reading!

Hong Kong Style Claypot Rice with Chinese Sausage 

Chinese people have mastered the art of claypot price, so you can pretty much expect endless variations of claypot rice: cured duck, braised chicken, Chinese pork belly, salted fish. Like I said, ENDLESS. But perhaps the most commonly known and most popular is without a doubt: Chinese sausage. 

Why so popular you might ask? For two reasons: (1) sausage and pork belly have a super long shelf life, so you’re able to cook it anytime and secondly, sausage and pork belly is cured and salt aged in a seasoning, which yields a very rich and almost smoky flavor. Once the rice starts cooking, the Chinese sausage and pork belly slowly drips down, coating the soft and billowy rice. But the pièce de résistance of the meal is undoubtedly, the crispy and crunchy rice that is toasted at the bottom of the claypot. One bite and it’s sure to leave you wanting more. 

Why a Claypot?

A Chinese claypot is made to withstand direct and indirect heat, which makes it ideal for making stews for long periods of time. In most Chinese restaurants, you’ll find that a master chef will cook a clay pot rice over an open flame, giving the claypot rice its distinct smoky flavor. If you don’t have a claypot at home, no worries! Feel free to try this recipe with a dutch oven or a pan that is high heat. But if you happen to have one at home, then I’d definitely recommend using it to achieve the crispy rice layer. A claypot can be purchased at a chinese supermarket or asian supply store. For chinese sausage, I bought the well known brand “kam yen jan,” and for the cured pork belly I used the brand “Orchard Sausages Inc.” I found that orchard sausages is made from us, which I liked. I found both of these ingredients at my local Chinese supermarket at ranch 99. 

Equipment 

1. Claypot

Notes

1. If you don’t care for the crispy rice at the bottom of the pot, you can add the toppings of your rice after about 7 minutes of cooking instead.  The rice will be ready in about 10 minutes. 
2. This claypot dish is applicable for only this recipe, because cured sausages are already cooked and only need to be reheated. 
3. If you do use a claypot, warm up your pot for a few minutes before cooking, because sudden temperature changes can crack a claypot. 

Hong Kong Clay Pot Rice Recipe

• Servings: 1-2 people
• Level of difficulty: medium 

Ingredients

• 6 oz cured Chinese pork belly (lap yuk) 腊肉
• 2 Chinese sausages (lap cheong) 臘腸
• 4 oz choy sum
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 cup rice

Soy sauce side

• ½ tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• ½ tbsp oil

Instructions

1. Rinse rice 3 times to clean. Soak rice in water for 30 minutes prior to cooking.
2. After 30 mins, rinse out water. Using a rice cooker pot to measure, add rice and water until it reaches just under the 1 mark. After water is measured, pour rice and water mixture into a claypot.
3. Pour 1 tbsp of oil in the claypot to evenly coat the bottom. 
4. Slice cured pork belly and sausages. Rinse choy sum in water and cut into 2 or 3-inch increments.
5. Bring the claypot to a boil on high heat. Once water is boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low for 10 minutes, before closing the lid. 
6. After 10 minutes, carefully place cured meat, sausage, and choy sum on top of the rice. After that, close the lid, turn up the heat back up to high, and wait to hear the crackling sound of rice crisping up. 
7. After about 3-4 minutes of crackling, rice is ready to be served. 

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