Clay Pot Chinese Sticky Rice (煲仔糯米飯, Bou1 Zai2 No6 Mai5 Faan6)

I’ve been cooking all my rice in a clay pot rather than a rice cooker since I prefer the results. For my family’s 2016 Thanksgiving dinner, I made Chinese Sticky Rice (糯米飯, No⁶ Mai⁵ Faan⁶) in a clay pot. I followed the same procedure outlined in the Clay Pot Rice (煲仔飯, Bou¹ Zai² Faan⁶) recipe, but used the ingredients for Chinese Sticky Rice. I also used dried shrimp and scallops that I buy in bulk from my local Chinese herb and dried seafood store rather than the prepared packages at my local Asian market. If you’re fortunate enough to have a Chinese herb and dried seafood store nearby, you’ll find a wide selection of dried shrimp and scallops (and other seafood) that’s not available at Asian markets.

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. 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

1½ cup	375 ml.	Sweet (glutinous) rice (糯米, no6 mai5)
½ cup	125 ml.	Brown jasmine rice (糙香米, cou3 hoeng1 mai5) or jasmine rice (香米, hoeng1 mai5)
24	24	Small dried whole Shiitake mushrooms (冬菇, dung1 gu1), rehydrated
3	3	Cantonese pork sausages (臘腸, laap6 coeng4), diced into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces
2 oz.	60 g.	Dried shrimp (蝦米, haa1 mai5), rehydrated
2 oz.	60 g.	Dried scallops (瑤柱, jiu4 cyu5), rehydrated (optional)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
3 stalks	3 stalks	Green onions (葱, cung1), cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces
½ bunch	½ bunch	Cilantro (芫茜, jyun4 sai1), cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces
		Oil for cooking

Equipment

14 in.	35.5 cm.	Wok or pan
3.2 qt.	3.0 L.	Clay Pot or larger

Preparation Instructions (2 Days Before)

1. Add boiling water and soak the Shiitake mushrooms, dried shrimp, and dried scallops in separate bowls. If you need to quickly rehydrate the Shiitake mushrooms, or any of the dried seafood, use the method described here: Technique: How to Quickly Rehydrate Dried Shiitake Mushrooms (冬菇, Dung¹ Gu¹). I used very small whole Shiitake mushrooms, but larger mushrooms (the rice cooker version of the recipe used five) can be used, just dice the mushrooms into ½-inch pieces.

Preparation Instructions (1 Day Before)

1. Remove the Shiitake mushrooms, dried shrimp, and dried scallops from the rehydration liquid. Remove the stems from the Shiitake mushrooms. Save the rehydration liquid for later use.
2. Dice the Cantonese pork sausage into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces.
3. Heat a wok or pan over high heat before adding oil and then the Cantonese pork sausage. Brown the sausage and then remove to a bowl.
4. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding more oil and then the rehydrated dried shrimp. Brown the shrimp, and then remove to the bowl with the Cantonese pork sausage.
5. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding more oil and then the rehydrated dried scallops. Brown the scallops, and then remove to the bowl with the Cantonese pork sausage.
6. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding more oil and then the rehydrated Shiitake mushrooms. Brown the mushrooms and then add the Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry to deglaze the wok. Put the contents of the wok into the bowl with the Cantonese pork sausage, cover when cool, and then put the bowl into the refrigerator.

Cooking Instructions

1. Remove the bowl with the Cantonese pork sausage, dried shrimp, and dried scallops from the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking.
2. Wash and cut the green onions and cilantro into ½-inch (15 mm) pieces.
3. Combine and wash the sweet (glutinous) rice and the brown- or jasmine rice, and place into the clay pot. Add the Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, and the dried shrimp and scallop rehydration liquid to the rice cooker. Add enough liquid to cover the rice plus ½-inch (15 mm) and cover the pot. Use the Shiitake mushroom rehydration liquid if more liquid is required. Allow the rice to soak in the rehydration liquid for one hour before cooking (this is important).
4. After soaking the rice for one hour, add the sausage-shrimp-scallop-mushroom mixture on top of the rice in the clay pot. Do not combine the mixture with the rice, it should cook on top of the rice.
5. 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.
6. 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 amount of liquid and 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.
7. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the rice for 15 minutes.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. Turn off the heat, add the green onions and cilantro to the clay pot, and leave the clay pot on the burner for at least 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. Mix the entire contents of the clay pot together.
11. Remove the clay pot cover and serve the rice immediately.

Notes

1. You’ll notice that there’s no extra seasoning (soy sauce, oyster sauce …) used in this recipe. The seasoning comes from the rehydration liquid from the dried shrimp and dried scallops. The rehydration liquid serves as a water substitute to cook the rice.
2. Dried scallops are a luxurious optional addition to the recipe. The basic ingredients for the dish are the sweet (glutinous) rice, Cantonese pork sausage, dried shrimp, and Shiitake mushrooms, so feel free to omit this ingredient if you don’t have dried scallops. Feel free to add other ingredients to customize your version of this recipe.
3. Browning the Shiitake mushrooms, dried shrimp, and dried scallops before cooking in the rice cooker is important since it adds more flavor to the completed dish. You can of course not do this before adding these ingredients to the rice cooker to save time. The completed dish will still be tasty, but will taste different than the browned version.
4. A mixture of sweet (glutinous) rice and brown- or jasmine rice is used so that the completed dish is not too sticky. The greater the ratio of sweet to regular rice, the more sticky the rice will be (which means that using all sweet rice makes the dish too sticky). The 3:1 ratio of sweet to regular rice produces the correct consistency for the dish.
5. Soaking the rice in the rehydration liquid for one hour before cooking is an important step. The taste of the dish is different if the rice is not soaked for that hour. Soaking the rice longer does not improve the taste, but can lead to the completed dish being mushy.
6. Some recipes call for cooking the green onion and cilantro with the rice rather than adding it in at the end. I have found that the taste is much fresher if you add the green onions and cilantro at the end of the cooking cycle, but feel free to add them in at the start of cooking.