Claypot Rice in a Home Kitchen (窝蛋牛肉煲仔饭)
Here we'll show you how to make clay pot rice in a home kitchen, fitting this absolute lunch spot classic into your everyday cooking rountine.
Bou Zei Fan, or claypot rice, is a quintessential Cantonese dish… you see it everywhere here in Guangdong. And it's a super common lunch choice – around noon you'll see all manner of people piling in Bou Zei Fan restaurants, enjoy some of those delicious claypot rice, with that perfectly cooked rice, a nice topping, and a beautiful, even crust. It's one of those simple things that's so tasty that's impossible not to love.
The Problem of Claypot Rice at home
While some people do make claypot rice at home, it's more of a restaurant thing here in Guangdong… because it's often quite difficult to achieve that even crust on a home stove. In the old days, there'd be traditional charcoal set-ups to help get a nice, even cooking… or alternatively you can use gas with a low-lying stove and some skills… and nowadays, some bou zei fan places would even use special electric bou zei fan cooking gadgets to ensure even cooking.
If you don’t have any of the above gadgets but you still want a nice bou zei fan, well, over the years I've honed my own personal approach in making a quick and pretty decent bou zei fan whenever I want it, using one piece of equipment that many home kitchens in Guangdong may not have but you probably have… an oven.
The even heat in the oven perfectly mimics the heat of a slow charcoal stove, and it’s also a tool used by some claypot rice eateries in Hong Kong to make their signature beautifully cooked claypot rice.
Beef and Egg Claypot Rice
For the rice:
Jasmine Rice (泰国香米/粘米), 210g
Hot, boiled water. Follow as per the video, as the rice will already take on some water from rinsing. The rice plus water TOGETHER should equal 440g. You will likely have ~20g of water from rinsing the rice, so that implies ~210g of hot, boiled water
Oil, preferably peanut. ~1 tsp to rub on the claypot at the beginning of cooking, ~1 tbsp to swirl around the sides right before putting in the oven
For the beef:
Beef - loin, flank, whatever - 100g (we used loin)
For the marinade:
Kansui (枧水) or sodium carbonate (碱面) or baking soda, ¼ tsp
Salt, ¼ tsp
Sugar, ¼ tsp
Cornstarch (生粉), 1 tsp
Black pepper powder, ⅛ tsp
Soy sauce (生抽), ¼ tsp
Dark soy sauce (老抽), ½ tsp
Liaojiu a.k.a. Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒), ½ tsp
Oyster sauce (蚝油), 1 tsp
Water, 2 tbsp
Oil, ~1 tsp
Optional: ginger, ~½ cm. Julienned.
For the seasoned soy sauce:
Sugar, ¼ tsp
MSG (味精), ~1/16 tsp
Soy sauce (生抽), 2 tsp
Fish sauce (鱼露), 1 tsp
Water, ½ tbsp
Process:
Rinse 210g of jasmine rice, add to a bowl on a scale. It should have already taken some liquid (likely the scale will read ~230g). Add enough hot, boiled water from the kettle to hit 440g. Let sit for 30 minutes.
During that time, make the seasoned soy sauce with 1/4 tsp sugar, ~1/16 tsp MSG, 2 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp fish sauce, 1/2 tbsp water. Set aside.
Prepare the beef: slice 100g of beef (loin, flank, or whatever) into thin ~2mm sheets. Mix in all the marinade but the oil and ginger: 1/4 tsp Kansui (or sodium carbonate/baking soda), 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp sugar, 1 tsp cornstarch, 1/8 tsp black pepper, 1/4 tsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce, 1/2 tsp liaojiu a.k.a. Shaoxing wine, 1 tsp oyster sauce, and 2 tbsp water.
Really stir in that water - the mixing might take 1-2 minutes until the water is fully absorbed. Once absorbed, optionally mix in ~1/2 cm ginger (julienned) and coat it with ~1 tsp oil.
After the rice is done soaking, rub ~1 tsp oil onto the claypot, then add in the rice together with the soaking liquid. Place over a medium high flame. Once strong steam is coming out of the clay pot (~6-7 minutes), let it go for one minute longer. Then uncover - you should not see any liquid remaining. Pour ~1 tbsp oil around the sides of the pot, pop in the oven for 20 minutes at 230C on the bottom rack.
Add the beef when there is 5 minutes remaining. After that 20 minutes in the oven is done, drizzle on the seasoned soy sauce. Then blast the claypot rice on a medium-high flame to accentuate the crust, 30 seconds each side (for 2.5 minutes, total). As per the discussion about equipment, only do a 30 second blast on the bottom if your stove couldn’t hold a tilted pot.
Finally add the egg, cover and let the steam cook it for 30-60 seconds. Sprinkle over some chopped scallions and serve directly.