Making food in a claypot is both unique and satisfying. Not only do you get to prepare the food in very special crockery… the aroma and flavour that results from cooking in this kind of earthenware is simply out-of-this-world!
Food prepared in a claypot usually means soul-comforting, hearty meals. One of these mouth-watering options is the very popular claypot chicken rice found in Malaysia, Singapore and China. Slow-marinated chicken pieces laced with juicy slices of mushrooms, salted fish and flavor-filled Chinese sausage are all piled high on top of steamed rice and then served with a sprinkle of crisp, green onions.
There are many variations of this dish. Some cook the chicken separately along with the veggies and then add it to the claypot on top of the rice. Others mix everything together to cook. I prefer the second method because I feel then the ingredients absorb the signature flavours of the pot right from the start.
Traditionally, this dish uses Shoaoxing wine, which is a fermented rice wine from Shaoxing in the Zhejiang province in eastern China. I’ve not been able to find it so I substituted with white wine instead. You can also use Sherry if you like.
Another must-have ingredient is Dark Soy Sauce, which is also called sweet soy sauce, thick soy sauce or black soy sauce. This of course is freely available in most big supermarkets and Asian food stores. Failing this, you can always try online sites like Amazon.
The Chinese sausages used in the authentic claypot chicken rice is a sweet and savoury sausage, which is commonly made with pork and/or pork fat and other ingredients like chicken, beef, tofu and offal. But like me, you can substitute with whatever you have on hand.
Chicken Claypot Rice is originally cooked over charcoal to infuse the unique charcoal aroma, but since most of us have either an electric or gas cooker, we can use the claypot to do the job of adding the aroma and flavour.
Tips To Keep Your Claypot In Peak Condition
To stop cracking, avoid shocking the pot with sudden temperature changes. Ideally, you should slowly bring up the heat from low to high.
Never put a hot pot on a cold surface or cold pot on or in an already hot surface like a preheated oven.
If it’s a claypot like the one I have, which is the common ones found in India and Sri Lanka… it’s important to maybe soak it overnight before the first use or rub some coconut or vegetable oil all over it to season it.
Do not use detergent to clean the pot since the porous clay will soak in the soap, instead soak it for some time and then gently scrub till all the food particles are removed. Finally, wash well with cool running water.
Most importantly, you need to remember that claypot cooking is all about gentle, slow cooking… so if you have a gas or electric stove, place it on a tawa first, then on the stovetop. This helps to diffuse the heat when cooking.
Substitutes for White Wine in Cooking:
White grape juice and apple juice
Apple cider
white wine vinegar
Yes, you can cook this dish in a normal pan, but unfortunately it will lack the signature taste and aroma that comes only when you use a claypot.
Find the link to the demo video for this recipe here: @claypotchickenrice
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Ingredients:
Main:
2 cups jasmine rice, unwashed
500g chicken, diced small
100g sausage, any kind
1/3 cup white wine
6-8 button mushrooms, sliced
3 tbsp vegetable oil
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 tbsp ginger, crushed
1 tsp pepper powder
1/3 cup onions, sliced
4 cups chicken stock
For the chicken:
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 ½ tsp sesame oil
3 tsp cornflour
¼ tsp turmeric powder
Method:
In a dish, add the chicken along with all the marinade ingredients listed under ‘For The Chicken’.
Mix everything well so that every piece of chicken is well coated. Ideally, you should use your hand for this so that you can make sure the marinade gets in all the nooks and crannies of each piece ;)
You can use it right away, but I suggest you leave it for at least 5 minutes to rest.
Heat oil in the claypot on a low heat. It is very important to remember that you should never place a claypot on high heat from the beginning itself. Instead, slowly bring up the heat from low to high.
Once the oil is hot enough, add the slices of sausage and stir-fry for a couple minutes. Now you can increase the heat to med-low. Even though the original recipe calls for pork sausages, you can always substitute with anything you have on hand or prefer.
Now add the chicken and stir-fry for a few minutes. Just make sure all the ingredients are well combined and not stuck to the bottom of the pot at this point.
Add the garlic, ginger and onions and stir well. It's time to allow it to cook for a bit. Again, keep stirring in between as we don't want any of the ingredients to get stuck to the pot.
Once you feel the chicken and other ingredients are around 80% cooked, add the mushrooms and stir-fry for about 2-3 minutes.
Deglaze with the white wine. Again, you can always do this with some sherry or for a nonalcoholic version... some apple juice or any of the options mentioned above in this article.
Now add the rice and combine well so all the grains get coated nicely and mixed with the rest of the ingredients. The reason we do not wash or rinse the rice in this recipe is because we want the rice to be nice and sticky! Not rinsing yields the rice a perfect sticky texture, whereas, washing dry rice removes all the surface starch and thus the source of added stickiness.
Now gently pour in the chicken stock and mix well. You can use any kind of stock here... made from stock cubes, store-bought or even homemade from scratch.
Cover and cook on very low heat for 25-30 minutes or until the liquid has all been absorbed and rice is done. I placed the claypot on a tawa and then on the stovetop. This ensures that while everything gets cooked nicely, it does not burn the rice at the bottom.
Once done, you can open instantly, but I personally allow it to rest for about 10 minutes or until serving time. Do not add the spring onions until you're ready to serve as the steam from the rice will cook them and they may look wilted by the time you serve. So do this step just before serving
Serving suggestions:
You can also add some roasted peanuts or cashew nuts on the top before serving.
If you don't like spring onions, you could use cilantro (coriander leaves) instead.
This dish is a on-pot meal by itself, but as additions you can serve it with some prawn crackers or pappads.
Hope you enjoy this easy-to-do meal. Would love to hear your feedback or suggestions in the comments below.
XOXO, Jovanka
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