Clay Pot Rice (煲仔飯, Bou1 Zai2 Faan6)

Making rice is the most basic dish in Chinese cuisine; without rice you don’t have a meal. The most modern method is the high tech electric rice cooker that cooks the rice to perfection every time, regardless of the type of rice used. When I was growing up, before rice cookers became available, my Mom would make rice the old-fashioned way with a pot. Once our family bought a rice cooker, making rice in a pot was replaced by an electric appliance, where rice was made by pushing a button. When rice is made in a pot, cooked rice sticks to the bottom and gets scorched (burned), which does not happen with an electric rice cooker. After the cooked rice is removed from the pot, there’s a layer of scorched rice that can’t be removed from the pot, so water is added to the pot and boiled again. The scorched rice is released from the bottom of the pot, the rice eaten, and the boiled water drunk (飯注, faan⁶ zyu³). I have always missed eating scorched rice now that rice cookers have replaced pots.

Using a clay pot to make rice is very similar to making rice in a pot. A crust is produced on the bottom of the clay pot, similar to cooking rice in a pot, and you don’t have to reboil to release the scorched rice from the bottom. The taste of the rice is very similar to making rice in a pot. The sequence of cooking the rice in a clay pot is:

1. Pre-heat the clay pot over medium heat for 5 minutes to prevent shocking the clay pot and possible breaking it.
2. Bring the clay pot rice to a boil over medium-high heat for 10 minutes.
3. Simmer the rice for 15 minutes over low heat.
4. Scorch the rice using medium-high heat for 10 minutes.
5. Turn off the heat and allow the clay pot to sit for 10 minutes to release the scorched rice from the bottom.
6. Serve the rice.

Given that there are many variables when cooking rice in a clay pot, the cooked rice will vary from every time you cook it. If more water is used, the rice will take longer to cook. If too little water is used, the rice becomes more al dente and the volume decreases because the rice doesn’t get fluffy. Burner heat will determine how quickly the rice cooks and how scorched the rice will get. You just have to experiment and watch for the indications that signal when the rice is cooked to your personal preference. I now cook my rice using a clay pot and have sidelined my electric rice cooker. Making rice in a clay pot seems like a simple task, but you’ll find that it takes practice to get consistent results.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 cup	500 ml.	White or brown rice (米, mai5)
		Water to cover rice + ½-inch (15 mm.)

Equipment

3.2 qt.

3.0 L.

Clay Pot or larger

Instructions

1. Wash the rice using cold water to remove any debris and excess starch.
2. Put the rice into the clay pot, cover the rice with cold water plus ½-inch (15 mm.), and cover the pot. Filling the clay pot with water over ½-inch (15 mm.) above the rice will result in fluffy rice. If you like your rice al dente, use a 1:1 ratio of water to rice (i.e. 2 cups (500 ml.) of rice, use 2 cups (500 ml.) of water).
3. Make sure that the outside of the clay pot is dry before placing on the heat source. If the outside got wet when the rice and water were placed into the pot, wipe and dry the outside of the clay pot. Heat clay pot over low heat for 5 minutes to pre-heat the pot. This prevents the clay pot from cracking if the pot were suddenly placed over high heat.
4. Increase the heat to medium-high for 10 minutes until the water boils in the clay pot. You should not lift the lid to see if the water is boiling, as it will cool down the pot. When a large amount of steam starts escaping from the clay pot cover, the water is boiling. The amount of time needed to boil the water in the clay pot will depend upon the setting and type of the burner, so the time may be less for a hotter heat source, or more for a lower heat source.
5. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the rice for 15 minutes.
6. Increase the heat to medium-high for 10 minutes to scorch the rice on the bottom. Depending upon your heat source and the setting used, the scorching will start to occur sometime during the last 5 minutes (the start of scorching may take longer than 10 minutes if the heat is lower). Since scorching occurs at the bottom of the clay pot, you won’t be able to see the degree of scorching. Use your sense of smell to determine when scorching starts by smelling the steam coming from the clay pot. Before scorching occurs, the steam will smell like cooking rice. Once scorching starts, you will detect a burning smell coming from the steam.
7. Once scorching starts, the amount of time to continue scorching the rice is a personal preference. You will have to experiment with the amount of time to suit your preference. If no scorching is desired, turn off the heat immediately. I let my rice scorch for 1-2 minutes before turning off the heat. More time over the heat will mean more scorching.
8. Turn of the heat, and leave the clay pot on the burner for 10 minutes. The rice will stick to the clay pot if removed immediately, so resting the clay pot on the heat source for 10 minutes is important.
9. Remove the clay pot cover and serve the rice immediately.