Classic Claypot Rice With Lap Cheung, Preserved Pork Belly + Blackbean Pork

Classic Claypot Rice With Lap Cheung, Preserved Pork Belly + Blackbean Pork

• December 07, 2015

Claypot rice is a classic Chinese winter warmer and I love eating this dish if I happen to be in Hong Kong during the winter months (and I will be this year!!).

There's usually a range of toppings, anything from preserved sausages called lap cheung to chicken, to eel, beef and salted fish with pork. My favourite however is always the blackbean ribs with lap cheung.

I bought a claypot a few years ago and never got round to using it, but I'd always had claypot rice on my never-ending to cook list, so I've teamed up with Essential Cuisine* to bring you guys this classic claypot rice recipe.

Essential Cuisine offer a large range of stock pots in powder form, all of which have no artificial ingredients or added msg. They are used widely by professional chefs around the country, and now home cooks can try it for themselves.

Usually rice cooked in a claypot only consist of rice and water, but I've added chicken stock to the mix to make it even tastier. I love how the stock pots are so versatile and work with a Chinese dish like this one and not just for making gravy to go with English food.

I bought my claypot in one of the Chinatown supermarkets, so they are not hard to find, but you can also use a rice cooker or a saucepan to create this dish too, although you won't get the crispy bottom on the rice, which can only be achieved with a claypot.

So, let's start! Marinade the meat first. I wasn't able to get hold of ribs, so I used pork tenderloin instead to make pork with blackbean. The pork will need to be lightly stir fried with the blackbean and garlic until it is semi cooked, which will then be added on top of the rice as it cooks on the hob.

Oil the claypot, add half a cup of washed rice and then pour in 3/4 cup of water.

Add 1 teaspoon of chicken stock to the rice and water. The powder is super fine so there is no need to stir, it will dissolve quickly.

Ta da! Beautiful claypot rice with preserved pork belly/lap yuke, preserved sausages/lap cheung and blackbean pork.

This sweet soya is made specifically for claypot rice and can be found in Chinatown. The rice already had a lot of flavour so I only added a tiny drizzle.


Ingredients:
For the pork marinade;
1/2 tsp soya sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp cornflour

100g pork tenderloin or ribs
1 lap cheung, sliced (Chinese preserved sausage)
1/2 strip of lap yuke, sliced (Chinese preserved pork belly)
1/2 cup of washed rice
3/4 cup water
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp Essential Cuisine chicken stock
1 tbsp sweet soya sauce (optional)
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp chopped blackbean
2 tbsp oil for frying
1/2 tsp soya sauce
1 oyster sauce

Directions:
1. Marinade the pork with the marinade mix as above.
2. Add 2 tbsp of oil to the wok, then add garlic and blackbean. Fry for 3-5 minutes until fragrance is released, then add in the pork. Add 1/2 tsp of soya sauce and 1 tsp oyster sauce and fry for another few minutes. Do not cook the pork fully, it's fine for it to be semi raw as it will finish cooking in the claypot. Set to one side.
3. Wash the rice, add 1 tbsp of oil to the claypot and then add in the rice. Pour 3/4 cup of water in and sprinkle 1 tsp of chicken stock over the rice, there's no need to mix the stock in.
4. Put claypot on the hob and use a low heat only.
5. After the rice has been on the hob for 10 mins, add in the sausage, pork belly, pork tenderloin, and cook the rice for a further 10 mins. Check the rice to see if it's fully cooked through, and if it has, turn the heat up to high for 3 mins to crisp up the bottom of the rice. Be careful the rice doesn't burn at the bottom, but if it does, you'll be able to smell it!
6. When the rice is fully cooked, serve with a drizzle of sweet soy sauce. Enjoy your hearty Chinese winter warmer!



*This post is sponsored by Essential Cuisine.