Clay Pot Rice Recipe

Soak mushrooms and rice rinse

Place dried shiitake mushrooms in a small bowl and cover with warm water. Soak for 20–30 minutes until softened. Meanwhile rinse the rice under cold water, swirling and draining 3–4 times until water runs mostly clear. Drain in a fine-mesh sieve for 10 minutes.

Reserve 1/2 cup of the mushroom soaking liquid, strain to remove grit, then add water/stock to make the total 2 1/4 cups of liquid for the pot (use less soaking liquid if it is very strong).

Marinate chicken

In a bowl combine 1.5 tbs light soy sauce, 1 tbs Shaoxing wine, 1 tbs oyster sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp cornstarch, 1 tsp minced garlic, 1 tsp white pepper and 1/2 tsp salt. Add the chicken pieces and toss to coat. Marinate 15–30 minutes while rice soaks/drains.

Slice lap cheong thinly on the bias and reserve. When mushrooms are softened, squeeze out excess water, remove stems and thinly slice caps.

Heat the clay pot (or a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven) over medium heat for 1–2 minutes. Add the rinsed and drained rice to the dry pot and stir for 30–60 seconds to coat grains; this helps keep them separate.

Add the 2 1/4 cups of water/stock (including reserved mushroom soaking liquid) and the 2 tbs light soy sauce and 1 tsp dark soy sauce to the rice. Stir once to level. Turn heat to medium-high and bring to a gentle boil uncovered.

When liquid is boiling, reduce heat to low. Arrange marinated chicken pieces evenly over the rice, nestle sliced lap cheong and sliced mushrooms around/over the chicken. Cover with the clay pot lid and simmer gently for 12 minutes without lifting the lid.

After 12 minutes, uncover briefly: you should see most liquid absorbed. If still a lot of liquid, recover and simmer 2–3 more minutes. If nearly absorbed, increase heat to medium-high for 1–2 minutes to create a crisp bottom crust (fan tze). Watch carefully to avoid burning.

Turn off heat, cover, and let rest for 8 minutes to finish steaming. The residual heat cooks chicken through and firms rice.

While the rice rests, heat 2 tbs neutral oil in a small skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add 2 cloves thinly sliced garlic and fry briefly until fragrant and just golden, about 30–40 seconds. Remove from heat to stop browning.

Stir together 1 tbs dark soy sauce, 1 tsp light soy sauce and 1 tsp chili oil (if using) in a small bowl for finishing drizzle.

To serve, spoon rice into bowls, making sure to scrape some of the crisp bottom crust. Place pieces of chicken, lap cheong and mushrooms on top. Drizzle the garlic oil over the meat and rice, then drizzle the soy-chili finishing sauce to taste. Garnish with sliced scallion greens and cilantro if using.