Clay Pot Rice With Chicken and Sausage

By Genevieve Ko

Updated Oct. 12, 2023

Clay Pot Rice With Chicken and Sausage
Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Rebecca Jurkevich. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks.
Total Time
1 hour 15 minutes
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
1 hour 10 minutes
Rating
4(315)
Comments
Read comments

A satisfying blend of sticky rice and savory meat, clay pot rice is known in Cantonese as bo zai fan. This Southern Chinese dish simmers, then steams, rice with sausages, bacon or both, so that their fat coats the grains and helps create a crackling crust on the bottom of the pot. In this variation, marinated chicken is nestled into the mix, its meat making for a more substantial meal. Lop cheong, a Cantonese sausage that’s a little sweet, is available in Chinese markets, but other sweet cured pork, like maple bacon, works as well. Even though this meal is named for the pot in which it’s cooked, a Dutch oven or cast-iron skillet works, too.

Featured in: The Best Cuts of Chicken Hold the Most Flavor. It’s in Their Bones.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

    For the Chicken Rice

    • 2tablespoons soy sauce
    • 1tablespoon oyster sauce
    • 1tablespoon Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
    • 1teaspoon sesame oil
    • 1teaspoon granulated sugar
    • ½teaspoon ground white or black pepper
    • 2scallions, whites and greens separated, thinly sliced
    • 4bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (1½ pounds)
    • 1½cups jasmine rice
    • 2links (3 ounces) lop cheong (Chinese sausage), thinly sliced, or 2 slices thick-cut maple bacon, cut into small pieces

    For Serving

    • 3tablespoons dark or regular soy sauce
    • 1teaspoon sesame oil
    • ½teaspoon granulated sugar
    • ½teaspoon Chinkiang (black) vinegar or balsamic vinegar
    • ¼teaspoon ground white or black pepper
    • ¼cup chopped cilantro leaves (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

646 calories; 31 grams fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 13 grams monounsaturated fat; 6 grams polyunsaturated fat; 60 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 29 grams protein; 1482 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Prepare the chicken rice: Mix the soy sauce, oyster sauce, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, sugar, pepper and scallion whites in a large bowl. Slice the chicken alongside the bone, cutting off 2 pieces of meat per thigh. Cut those pieces into 1 ½-inch chunks and add to the bowl, along with the 4 thigh bones that still have some meat on them. Mix well to coat, then cover and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes and up to 1 day.

  2. Step 2

    Rinse the rice in a strainer until the water runs clear. Spread in a large clay pot, a Dutch oven or cast-iron skillet with a lid and add 2 cups hot tap water. Let stand for 15 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Meanwhile, prepare the serving sauce: In a small bowl, stir the soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, vinegar and pepper until the sugar dissolves.

  4. Step 4

    Spread the chicken with its marinade in an even layer over the rice, nestling the bones into the rice. Scatter the lop cheong evenly over the chicken. Cover and bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting and continue cooking until the chicken and rice are cooked through, 25 to 35 minutes. Taste a grain of rice to see if it’s tender and cut into a piece of chicken to make sure it has lost its pinkness.

  5. Step 5

    Uncover the pot and raise the heat to high. Cook until you hear the rice crackling against the bottom and smell its toastiness, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat.

  6. Step 6

    To serve, drizzle a spoonful of the serving sauce over the chicken and gently fold into the rice without scraping up the bottom. Sprinkle with the scallion greens and cilantro, if using, and serve with the remaining sauce. After most of the dish has been eaten, use a thin spatula to scrape up the charred rice on the bottom. It comes off more easily after the pot has cooled a bit.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
315 user ratings
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Comments

Cooking in San Francisco

My family is from Hong Kong and this recipe is spot-on like the one we make! If you don’t eat pork, sub in shiitakes that have been marinated with the chicken. It’s a common combination. If you don’t have a clay pot, use your Dutch oven. I often do so that I get more rice crust (think Chinese socorat or tahdig). If your rice is soggy, at the end of the cooking time wrap the pot lid in a dish towel and return the lid to the pot for 10 minutes or so. The towel will absorb the extra moisture.

Celeste

I have a romertopf clay cooker, but I can't imagine putting it on a open flame--only in the oven. Can you really put a clay pot on a stove top?

Janis

No your Romertopf should not go on the stovetop as it will crack. The vessels used for this kind of clay pot rice are specially designed for stovetop use, and can be found at Asian markets or restaurant supply stores. If you don't have one you're better off using a heavy stovetop-save pan like dutch oven or cast iron skillet as suggested in the introduction.

Roy

I was worried that the blandness of the plain rice would overpower the marinade, but this had really good flavor. I doubled the recipe. It did stick to the cast iron skillet, but those scraped off pieces were extra tasty. Next time I will thicken the serving sauce, it was too runny to stick to the food.

ChuckDallas

I followed the recipe to a "T". However, after having read the comments, I was concerned about the rice being "mushy". So rather than two cups of hot water, as in recipe, I added one and one/half cups of water. I then watched the cooking process to ensure the rice was cooked to being done. It was and and it was not mushy at all. Also we found that that the burned rice was delicious when mixed with everything else.

Katy H

We make this pretty regularly as it's a favorite. We vary the sausage, sometimes using just a smoked sausage and sometimes using the lop cheung, depending on what we have on hand and it's always delicious! Makes for great leftovers the next day.

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