The Rice Bowl To End All Rice Bowls. The Clay Pot Rice Bowl That Launched A Thousand Ships. The rice bowl that needs only fifteen short minutes of cooking time before you’re happily scarfing it down.
This Clay Pot Rice Bowl is actually somewhat similar to a Korean bibimbap, in that you get those slightly crispy bits of rice at the bottom of the pot. You basically steam it with a bunch of Chinese charcuterie (cured pork belly and Chinese sausage), whip up a quick sauce, and stir it all together with fresh green onion.
The salty, savory sausage and pork belly flavor the rice, and when you’re stirring that glorious mess together, it’s like…Helen of Who? If Agamemnon had this rice bowl, that whole Trojan War debacle could probably have been avoided.
The key to the short cooking time in this Hong Kong Style Clay Pot Rice is soaking the rice for an hour beforehand (by the way, this recipe was written by my mom. I happen to just be writing the whole intro/preface/lead-in today).
Just put the rice and water into your pot and walk away for an hour. Read a magazine, get some errands done, binge-watch a few episodes of The Mindy Project. By the time you come back, the process of making this Hong Kong style clay pot rice bowl is incredibly simple. As for the main punch-you-in-the-face-with-flavor ingredients, i.e. the cured meats…you can find them at your local Chinese grocery near the butcher’s section.
Look for a dark-colored, cured pork belly and regular dried Chinese sausage, or “lap cheung.” Although pretty much anything in that cured meats section would probably work for this. You can buy a bunch and keep it—vacuum packed—in your fridge for a few months.
For other similar recipes check out Chicken and mushroom clay pot rice and if you don’t have a clay pot, you can use your rice cooker for ribs and rice or just use a normal pot! And now on to the recipe!
Hong Kong Clay Pot Rice: Recipe Instructions
Soak 1 cup of long grain white rice (preferably jasmine) rice in exactly 1 cup of water in your clay pot for 1 hour.
(See bottom of the post for instructions on making this in your trusty rice cooker).
After soaking, put the pot over medium heat and bring it to a boil. When it’s boiling, put the cured pork belly and sweet Chinese sausage on top of the rice. (Don’t stir at this point. Just plop ’em in.)
Also check out Judy’s recipe for homemade cured pork belly. It’s easy to make, and totally worth the effort!
Cover the pot, and turn the heat down to the lowest setting. Simmer for about 10 minutes.
In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, seasoned soy sauce (or more light soy sauce), dark soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar, and white pepper.
After 10 minutes, uncover the pot and pour the sauce evenly over the rice. Cover it back up and simmer for another 3 minutes.
After that, uncover the pot, slice up the meats, and add them back to the pot along with your chopped scallion.
Add more soy sauce if you like!
And now, the best part. Stir everything together.
You can also make this clay pot rice bowl dish in a rice cooker. Just add the rice, water, and meat to the rice cooker, press the button, and cook normally. When the rice is done, take the meat out and slice it.
Add it back to the rice along with the sauce and the scallions. It’s an easier method than the clay pot, but the clay pot is what gets the crispy rice bottom thing going.
Let us know what you think in the comments below! If you’re looking for more dishes involving the life-giving grain that is rice, check out our Vegetable Fried Rice or our Roasted Chicken with Sticky Rice.
Hong Kong Clay Pot Rice
Ingredients
- 1 cup long grain rice
- 1 cup water
- a 3-inch piece of cured pork belly
- 1-2 links of sweet Chinese sausage
- 1 tablespoon regular soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon seasoned soy sauce (you can substitute this with a bit more regular soy sauce as well)
- ½ tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1/8 teaspoon sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 scallion (chopped)
Instructions
- Soak your cup of rice in (exactly) a cup of water in your clay pot for an hour. After it's been soaked, put the pot over medium heat and bring it to a boil. When it's boiling, put the cured meats on top of the rice (don't stir). Cover the pot, turn the heat down to the lowest setting, and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.
- In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauces, fish sauce, sugar, and white pepper. Uncover the pot, and pour the sauce evenly over the rice evenly. Cover it back up and simmer for another 3 minutes.
- After that, uncover the pot, slice up the meats, and add them back to the pot along with your chopped scallion. Stir everything together. You can also add more soy sauce, to taste!
- You can also make this dish in a rice cooker. Just add the rice, water, and meat to the rice cooker and cook normally. When the rice is done, take the meat out and slice it. Add it back to the rice along with the sauce and the scallions!
Mmm..can’t wait to try this. Thank you! This reminds me so much of my childhood!
I am thinking of using longanisa in place of Chinese sweet sausage because I’m more familiar with it. It’s a sweet and fatty sausage so maybe? Though it’s best seared in a pan so maybe not! Haha
Hi, hen you mean 1 cup of rice, do you mean 1 rice cup or a regular cup (250mL)?
Do I still need to let the rice soak if I am doing it in the rice cooker?
No need, Jeffrey.
This is excellent and super easy! Got some larou just to try it.
Used a small Dutch oven (no clay pot) to get the crispy rice effect. And did the dried mushroom water for the rice like another comment mentioned. This will probably become a regular here.
Did you have to change anything from cooking time and ingredients? What quart is your dutch oven?
Ayana, my dutch oven is 2.5 quarts, I didn’t have to change anything for the recipe ingredients, though I took a suggestion from another comment to soak some shiitakes and used some of the water to cook the rice.
Making it again tonight
That’s awesome, Matt.
I would love to try this recipe, but where can I buy this type of clay pot?
Hi Even, you should be able to cook it in a cast iron pot if you can’t find clay pot. But if you really want to buy it, try Amazon since they have everything :-)
So I got excited, bought a clay pot from my local Chinese grocer and then panicked before using it. Does it require any care before using for the first time? Mine is glazed on the inside up to the lip, but is otherwise clay on the outside. The lid looks the same as yours. So I stuck it in another pot in case, and posted this question! Appreciate any guidance.
Hi Danica, you should definitely soak the whole thing (submerged) in water overnight before using it on the stove.
The instructions for the clay pot I bought said to wash it and the cook a small amount of rice in a large amount of water for 1/2 hour. Discard the water and rice and it is ready to use. At that time I had a gas stove but now I am stuck with only electric. I don’t think it would be good to use directly on the glass top so bought a small ring to raise it up. Haven’t tried to yet but do hope it works, I would hate to either crack my clay pot or my glass top. Any suggestions?
Hi Bev, I think a small ring is a good idea. Start with lower heat and see how it goes. I have to say though, I don’t have too much experience cooking on electric stove.
This was a real treat! Friends back in China were hugely impressed by the photos. I really appreciate the link to find the sweet sausage. This was so easy and so delicious it could easily become a staple in my rotation — I’m afraid I’m going to use up my cured pork belly too quickly! Thanks for another winning recipe!
Hi Brian, you’re welcome, and glad you enjoyed this HK clay pot rice. It’s especially good during cool fall or winter months and dangerous because it’s so delicious that I have to stop myself from eating too much!
Add a handful of soaked dry shitake mushrooms, and use the filtered soaking liquid to cook the rice, will ad wonderful nutty aroma to the dish.
Hi Chanh, that’s a great suggestion :)
I haven’t made this yet. I have all the ingredients but I lack the clay pot. I really want to buy one but first I need to know what tyoe and size pot you recommend. I’m leaning toward the unglazed pot in a size medium. What say you?
Hi Bubby, a medium clay pot is perfect for the home kitchen but you can make this dish in a regular pot or rice cooker too!