Chicken and Mushroom Clay Pot Rice (煲仔冬菇鷄飯, Bou1 Zai2 Dung1 Gu1 Gai1 Faan6)

Chicken and rice cooked in a clay pot is classic Cantonese dish. This version adds mini-shiitake mushrooms, dried lily flowers, dried black fungus strips, and dried scallops. Mini-Shiitake mushrooms (my nomenclature) are very small Shiitake mushrooms that are occasionally available at my local Chinese herb and dried foods store. Since they are hard to find, a good substitute is to use diced regular sized Shiitake mushrooms. The one caution when making this dish is that any excess liquid marinade from the chicken will burn in the clay pot when the rice is cooked, so the chicken needs to be separated from the marinade before adding to the clay pot. The same caution also goes for the oyster sauce, which is only added at the end of cooking.

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

½ lb.	250 g.	Chicken thigh (鷄髀, gai1 bei2) or breast meat (雞胸肉, gai1 hung1 juk6), cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Baking soda (蘇打粉, sou1 daa2 fan2)
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Corn starch (粟粉, suk1 fan2)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)
1 cup	250 ml.	Brown jasmine rice (糙香米, cou3 hoeng1 mai5) or jasmine rice (香米, hoeng1 mai5)
18	18	Dried whole mini-Shiitake mushrooms (冬菇, dung1 gu1), rehydrated
1 oz.	30 g.	Dried black fungus strips (木耳, muk6 ji5), rehydrated
1 oz.	30 g.	Dried lily flower (金針, gam1 zam1), rehydrated
1 oz.	30 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
		Rehydration liquid and water (if necessary) to cover the rice plus ½-inch (15 mm.)
1-2 Tbs.	15-30 ml.	Lee Kum Kee brand Premium Oyster Flavored Sauce (蠔油, hou4 jau4) or equivalent
1 stalk	1 stalk	Green onions (葱, cung1), cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces
¼ cup	125 ml.	Cilantro (芫茜, jyun4 sa), cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces

Equipment

3.2 qt.

3.0 L.

Clay Pot or larger

Preparation Instructions

1. Prepare the chicken thigh or breast meat by removing any bones, excess fat, and remaining yellow skin. Ideally all the yellow skin was removed during the vendor’s chicken cleaning process, but some always remains and will prevent the marinade from penetrating the skin. Use your fingers and rub any remaining yellow skin from the chicken under cold running water. Cut the chicken into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces and place into a bowl. Add baking soda to the bowl and fill with cold water to cover the chicken. Mix the chicken in the baking soda solution, allow to tenderize for 15 minutes, and then drain and wash the baking soda from the meat. The baking soda can be omitted but results in the tender meat experienced in restaurant dishes.
2. Marinate the chicken in a covered container for at least one hour or overnight in the refrigerator with the ginger and garlic crushed in a garlic press, corn starch, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil.
3. Add boiling water and soak the Shiitake mushrooms, dried black fungus strips, dried lily flowers, and dried scallops (optional) in a bowl. If you need to quickly rehydrate the Shiitake mushrooms and the dried ingredients, use the method described here: Technique: How to Quickly Rehydrate Dried Shiitake Mushrooms (冬菇, Dung¹ Gu¹). I used very small whole mini-Shiitake mushrooms, but larger mushrooms (3-5, depending upon the size of the mushrooms) can be used, just dice the mushrooms into ½-inch pieces.

Cooking Instructions

Lee Kum Kee Brand
Premium Oyster Flavored Sauce
(蠔油, hou4 jau4)

1. If marinating the chicken overnight, take the chicken out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking. Separate the chicken from the marinade, and discard the marinade. This is important since any excess marinade will burn when cooked in the clay pot.
2. Remove the Shiitake mushrooms, dried black fungus strips, dried lily flowers, and dried scallops from the rehydration liquid. Save the rehydration liquid for later use. Remove the stems from the Shiitake mushrooms.
3. Wash and cut the green onions and cilantro into ½-inch (15 mm) pieces.
4. Wash the brown- or jasmine rice, and place into the clay pot. Add the Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, and the rehydration liquid to the rice cooker. Add enough liquid to cover the rice plus ½-inch (15 mm) and cover the pot. Use water if more liquid is required. Allow the rice to soak in the rehydration liquid for one hour before cooking (this step can be omitted if you’re short on time).
5. After soaking the rice for one hour, add the chicken pieces, Shiitake mushrooms, dried black fungus strips, dried lily flowers, and dried scallops 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.
6. 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 rehydration liquid 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.
7. 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.
8. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the rice for 15 minutes.
9. 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.
10. 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 2 minutes before turning off the heat. More time over the heat will mean more scorching.
11. Turn of the heat, remove the clay pot cover, add the green onions and cilantro to the clay pot, recover 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.
12. Remove the clay pot cover, add the Lee Kum Kee brand Premium Oyster Flavored Sauce, or equivalent, and mix the entire contents of the clay pot together. Serve the rice immediately.