The girl and Tiny Man are scrapping away at the burnt rice crust (锅巴) at the bottom of my clay pot. The Hubby told them that this is the best part of the clay pot rice eating experience.
And kids, being kids, took his words literally; they dug in. They both agreed that the rice crust tasted good. But I was very sure the rice itself with the rest of the ingredients was not any less delicious. I am also certain that the hands-on scrapping of the pot together was comparatively a lot more fun for them then just popping spoonfuls of rice and meat into the mouth.
The Hubby had suggested clay pot rice for dinner. I remember my first clay pot rice was introduced by none other than the Hubby who was my boyfriend back then. It was that popular store at Chinatown food centre, the one that you'll have to wait patiently, eyes popping from their sockets due to increasing hunger whetted by the fantastic aroma wafting from the clay pot rice store. That was the first time and the last time I had clay pot rice from that store. The rice was fantastic, no doubt about that. But in my family, I am not famous for patience.
So when Hubby made the suggestion, the image of Chinatown food centre clay pot rice, although pretty vague by now, inevitably surfaced. Told Hubby that I will try my best to recreate that clay pot rice. It was a Monday and normally, my fridge is quite empty by then. Rummaged through the ice-box and found one piece of boneless chicken thigh meat. That will come in handy. I have a packet of ready to eat chicken in teriyaki sauce.
That is most helpful. I have some chinese sausages (lap cheong), that will go into the clay pot rice too. Great! The only thing left to buy will be some leafy greens, not difficult at all. Ingredients are gathered and the only thing left to do is to make that rice.
The Chinatown clay pot rice is always served with meat and vegetable piled on top of freshly cooked white rice, with a bowl of dark colored dressing to be drizzled over before eating. I wasn't too confident of doing that. Simply because I was afraid that if I prepared the dressing (or should I call it seasoning) this way, it may end up either too salty or worse, not salty enough. So I decided to lightly flavor the rice in the process of making it and prepare a small quantity of dressing to be drizzled over the rice, toss to coat before eating.
I am sure the whitish looking meat is extremely obvious. Those are the boneless chicken thigh from my freezer. In the process of marinating them, I forgot to add dark soy sauce for color. The taste is not hindered in anyway, but the sight doesn't blend in too well with the rest of the chicken in teriyaki sauce.
Clay pot rice with chicken and leafy greens
(recreated, with countless modifications, from some vague memory of my "part-tor" time clay pot rice)
Ingredients
2 cups rice
650ml water (for cooking the rice)
1 piece of boneless chicken thigh, cut into bite size (optional)
1/2 packet of CP Glazed teriyaki (chicken in teriyaki sauce)
1 Chinese sausage (lap cheong), thinly sliced
4 dried shiitake mushrooms, softened and thickly sliced
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
Some leafy greens (up to individual preference, I used chye sim)
oil for frying (about 2 tbsps)
Seasoning A
1 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce (this is what I have in the pantry)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce
Dressing/Seasoning to be drizzled over rice before eating
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp hot water
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Method
1. Wash rice and drain. For my 2 cups of rice, I measured 650ml of water to cook them in the clay pot. To this water, add Seasoning A and stir to mix well.
2. Season the boneless chicken thigh meat. Actually this is optional if using the whole packet of CP Glazed Teriyaki Chicken is preferred. I wanted to clear out my fridge so I added this and halved the amount of CP Glazed Teriyaki Chicken used. Of course using the whole packet is not a problem at all if more meat is preferred. Season chicken thigh meat with 1 tsp light soy sauce, dash of pepper, 1/2 tsp of sesame oil and 1/2 tsp of grated ginger, add in 1/4 tsp dark soy sauce to make it blend in with the teriyaki chicken pieces. Otherwise, these will stick out like sore thumb, like mine did!
3. Heat up some oil in the clay pot and saute the thinly sliced shallots until slightly golden. Add the chinese sausage, shiitake mushrooms and saute for about 1 minute.
4. Add the rice and saute for about 1 minute.
Then add the water mixed with Seasoning A and bring to the boil. What I did here is actually experimental. I've never cooked rice using a clay pot before. I was basically worried that the rice would be under-cooked or that the liquid would dry up and the rice will burn before it is cooked. Anyway, after the rice came to a boil, I lowered the flame to medium-low and let the whole pot bubble slowly for 20 minutes.
5. 10 minutes into the bubbling, add the raw chicken thigh meat, return the cover and continue to cook for 10 more minutes.
6. 5 minutes before the 20 minutes is up, layer the CP Glazed Teriyaki Chicken and let it steam for the rest of the 5 minutes.
Up to this point, everything went well for me. The rice was cooked (I tasted it immediately after I turned off the flame), and there was no burning smell. But one thing wasn't quite right. The rice was too soft and a little too wet, unlike the clay pot rice from that "part-tor" memory. I brushed it aside, reasoning that the rice is just cooked. Let it rest until dinner time (my favorite "aging"), the wetness should dry up a bit and we'll have something that resembles that clay pot rice.
Well, truth is, the wetness did not reside. It stayed slightly moist, which Hubby immediately commented on. "But it still taste good", he encouraged. Before tucking in, I blanched some chye sim in salted water and toss it about in one tablespoon of vegetable oil to give it some gloss.
The sharp person will question, "So if your rice did not burn, how did you get your 锅巴?" ^_^ I reheated the whole pot right before dinner. That created the burnt rice crust. Off the heat and drizzle over the dressing. I love hearing the liquid sizzle between burnt rice crust and the piping hot clay pot.
Would you like to have some?
The Chinatown clay pot rice is always served with meat and vegetable piled on top of freshly cooked white rice, with a bowl of dark colored dressing to be drizzled over before eating. I wasn't too confident of doing that. Simply because I was afraid that if I prepared the dressing (or should I call it seasoning) this way, it may end up either too salty or worse, not salty enough. So I decided to lightly flavor the rice in the process of making it and prepare a small quantity of dressing to be drizzled over the rice, toss to coat before eating.
 |
| My final product |
Clay pot rice with chicken and leafy greens
(recreated, with countless modifications, from some vague memory of my "part-tor" time clay pot rice)
Ingredients
2 cups rice
650ml water (for cooking the rice)
1 piece of boneless chicken thigh, cut into bite size (optional)
1/2 packet of CP Glazed teriyaki (chicken in teriyaki sauce)
1 Chinese sausage (lap cheong), thinly sliced
4 dried shiitake mushrooms, softened and thickly sliced
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
Some leafy greens (up to individual preference, I used chye sim)
oil for frying (about 2 tbsps)
Seasoning A
1 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce (this is what I have in the pantry)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce
Dressing/Seasoning to be drizzled over rice before eating
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp hot water
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Method
1. Wash rice and drain. For my 2 cups of rice, I measured 650ml of water to cook them in the clay pot. To this water, add Seasoning A and stir to mix well.
2. Season the boneless chicken thigh meat. Actually this is optional if using the whole packet of CP Glazed Teriyaki Chicken is preferred. I wanted to clear out my fridge so I added this and halved the amount of CP Glazed Teriyaki Chicken used. Of course using the whole packet is not a problem at all if more meat is preferred. Season chicken thigh meat with 1 tsp light soy sauce, dash of pepper, 1/2 tsp of sesame oil and 1/2 tsp of grated ginger, add in 1/4 tsp dark soy sauce to make it blend in with the teriyaki chicken pieces. Otherwise, these will stick out like sore thumb, like mine did!
3. Heat up some oil in the clay pot and saute the thinly sliced shallots until slightly golden. Add the chinese sausage, shiitake mushrooms and saute for about 1 minute.
 |
When shallots are slightly golden, add both lap cheong and mushrooms |
5. 10 minutes into the bubbling, add the raw chicken thigh meat, return the cover and continue to cook for 10 more minutes.
6. 5 minutes before the 20 minutes is up, layer the CP Glazed Teriyaki Chicken and let it steam for the rest of the 5 minutes.
Up to this point, everything went well for me. The rice was cooked (I tasted it immediately after I turned off the flame), and there was no burning smell. But one thing wasn't quite right. The rice was too soft and a little too wet, unlike the clay pot rice from that "part-tor" memory. I brushed it aside, reasoning that the rice is just cooked. Let it rest until dinner time (my favorite "aging"), the wetness should dry up a bit and we'll have something that resembles that clay pot rice.
Well, truth is, the wetness did not reside. It stayed slightly moist, which Hubby immediately commented on. "But it still taste good", he encouraged. Before tucking in, I blanched some chye sim in salted water and toss it about in one tablespoon of vegetable oil to give it some gloss.
The sharp person will question, "So if your rice did not burn, how did you get your 锅巴?" ^_^ I reheated the whole pot right before dinner. That created the burnt rice crust. Off the heat and drizzle over the dressing. I love hearing the liquid sizzle between burnt rice crust and the piping hot clay pot.
Would you like to have some?
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