Couple weeks ago when my bestie and her husband came to visit from NY, they were talking about cooking Claypot Rice at home. And I thought, dayamn~ that’s something which I haven’t had in a looonnnnng time. I suppose it’s quite common in Singapore too but I haven’t come across it personally yet. I probably wouldn’t order it though since there’s a 15-20 min minimum waiting time in general, which is equal to eternity when I’m hungry. I also can’t finish an entire serving on my own anyway. But still, Claypot Rice is one of those Asian comfort foods so I figure it can’t be all that difficult to make at home (where I’ll have a bit more reinforcement in the consumption department).
I picked up a claypot cooking recipe book and started flipping through immediately. Since I’m a beginner and had never used the claypot before, I figured starting with the basic-est of all basic recipes would be best. That would be piling chicken and Chinese sausages (aka lup cheong) on rice, all cooked in the claypot.
I have to say, making Claypot Rice turned out to be really easy! I love the convenience of it all being a one-dish meal, in a way. And you can’t really go wrong in terms of flavor, because if it’s not salty enough, just add soy sauce when it’s done.
The overzealous newbie that I was, I piled tons of items over my rice for my Claypot Rice. I packed on two different kinds of lup cheong, some chicken marinated with ginger and rice wine, mushrooms, chestnuts and veggies. And this rice dish took a lot quicker to cook than I had anticipated. I set my kitchen timer for 15 minutes but when I checked halfway, my rice was already cooked.
If I may say so myself, my virgin attempt to make Claypot Rice turned out to be a success. Yumz!
Incidentally, there’s this restaurant in Chinatown, New York that specializes in Cantonese-style Claypot Rice and I love that when you order take-out, they pack the whole thing for you in a claypot. Yes, you get to bring home the claypot and keep it! :P It’s the traditional terracota kind too, which is awesome. For years, I’d get my claypot rice fix there.
By the way, if any of you know where’s the best place in Singapore for Claypot Rice, please drop me a line as I’d love to check it out anyhoo.
Happy eats,
-MB.
