A Springy Claypot Rice with Pork Belly, Peas, and Asparagus

my kind of one pot cooking

I’m heading to Ohio this week to spend some days with family. I’m packing my suitcase with presents, loads of monstrous lemons from our tree, and maybe some ong choy (Chinese water spinach) if I can find it before I leave because I want my dad to cook it for me but he said there isn’t any good ong choy in Cleveland. By the end of the trip I’ll have off loaded everything and have room to sneak back some treasures from my parent’s basement. Almost every time I go home I come back with something that’s older than me. My mom doesn’t throw anything potentially valuable away and my family had been in the restaurant business for a very long time so some of my most prized kitchen items were “thrifted” from the basement. I think this time I’m going to finally take the tiki glasses from the restaurant bar.

One gem that I brought home with me over the holidays was this claypot that was actually not in the basement but sitting in a cabinet next to some ancient bottles of rum (also from the restaurant days). It’s so cute and barely ever use, definitely not during my 33 years on this Earth. The claypot I had previously felt sort of cheap and thinner than I would have like and this one feels like an upgrade.

This claypot is actually more in the style of a donabe, with Chinese claypots typically having a thick handle and more unglazed porous surface area. But Chinese claypots, Japanese donabes, and Korean dolsots are all subtle variations on the same type of cooking vessel. Earthenware retains heat well, which makes it great for slower more gentle cooking. One of the best things a claypot can cook is recipe. If you’ve been around for a bit, then you know I’m sort of anti-rice cooker. I just haven’t owned one in about 8 years and I think stovetop rice is perfect. In a claypot, the grains of rice plump and fluff just right and if you keep the heat on low for a little longer you’ll be gifted with some nutty crispy rice on the bottom. You do have to be present with the claypot and keep a watchful eye on it. Each claypot is a little different and with each new claypot I’ve gotten, I’ve also burned the crap out of my rice. So be gentle and mindful.

One of my favorite meals in Hong Kong is the claypot rice at Hing Kee. Last time I was there my dad and I shared two small claypots, one with eel and another with pork cake and an egg. Delicious! A claypot is so simple and yet the topping possibilities are endless! Obviously you need rice, and I think jasmine rice is best here. For proteins, ideally you want something that is a little fatty and rich so it flavors the rice below. You don’t really have the benefit of hot oil coaxing out flavors, so you have to make sure the flavor is already there before you steam. Chinese sausage is a really common and easy topping! For this claypot I used thinly sliced pork belly that had a good meat to fat ratio. The pork is tender and a little chewy (in a good way) once cooked and some of the fat renders out into the rice below. You don’t normally see many vegetables in a claypot rice, but this is a homestyle claypot and I wanted some green in there. Since spring is in the air, I threw in asparagus and some english peas. They stay nice and bright after steaming, not mushy, which I love. For the last few minutes of cooking, I threw on an egg and then topped it with loads of crispy fried shallot and green onions. Mix it all together and there’s not a bad bite!

What if you don’t have a claypot?

You can still absolutely make this recipe. I’ve made similar one pot rice meals in other vessels and have achieved similar results, it just feels less romantic than using a real claypot. A 2 to 3 quart saucepan or small dutch oven would be a perfect. Anything cast iron will have similar heat retention to a claypot. Since the recipe serve 2 (almost 3 depending on the kind of eater you are) you have the option to scale up the recipe for 4 if you end up using a large vessel.

If you have any claypot cooking questions, just let me know!

Claypot Rice with Pork Belly, Peas, and Asparagus

serves 2

Claypot Rice With Pork Belly, Peas, And Asparagus

67.4KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

1/3 lb pork belly, thinly sliced (see notes)
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp Sesame oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 white pepper
3/4 cup jasmine rice
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp water (just shy of 1 cup)
1 tsp chicken bouillon
2 green onions, whites first, greens for garnish
6 asparagus spears, thinly sliced on a bias
3/4 cup fresh or frozen peas
Avocado or a neutral-flavored oil, drizzle around the edge of the claypot
1 egg
Fried shallots, for topping

1. In a medium bowl, toss to combine sliced pork belly, dark soy, sesame oil, salt, and white pepper. Allow the pork to marinate for about 15 minutes.

2. Add the rice into the clay pot and rinse the rice twice, until the water runs mostly clear. Drain the water and add 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp fresh water, chicken bouillon, and the whites of the green onions. Mix to combine and then top with asparagus, peas, and the pork belly. When adding the pork belly, try to not densely pack in the slices. You want some airflow so the meat cooks evenly and fully.

3. Place the claypot on the burner and heat over medium heat. Once it starts to simmer, reduce the heat to maintain a very gentle simmer, medium-low to low, and cover with the lid. Steam for 20 minutes, at this point the rice and pork should be cooked through. While the heat is still going, drizzle oil all around the edge of the claypot and crack an egg onto the center. Cover with a lid again and cook until the whites have set, 6 to 8 minutes.

4. Remove the lid and at this point you can dig around the edge of the rice and see if it’s crispy yet (if that’s desired), if it isn't, keep heating the claypot for a few more minutes. Keep an eye on it though because the rice could burn.

5. Before serving, drizzle the clay pot with a little soy sauce, green onions, and fried shallots. Mix the rice together with a big spoon, scraping the sides to get the bits of crispy rice off.

Notes:

• You can either purchase thin pre-sliced pork belly, often meant for hot pot or kbbq, at Asian markets, or slice it yourself. To make slicing easier, freeze the pork belly for about 2 hours, it should be very firm, not frozen solid, and then slice thin.