THE rice bowl to end all rice bowls! Fluffy, perfectly cooked rice with savory toppings, and refreshing vegetables all in one pot, every single grain of rice has fully absorbed the flavors from the umami sauce and all the flavorful toppings, and just when you think this couldn't possibly get any better, you'll reach the golden, crispy, rice crust bottom for a grand finale surprise.
The Hong Kong style clay pot rice, or Bo Zai Fan 煲仔é¥, is one of my absolute childhood favorites. It's a complete meal prepared, cooked, and served all in one earthware pot! The cooking process is almost poetic really, all the different ingredients uniting into one in the warm hug of the pot, bringing their individual flavors together into one euphoric experience.
Traditionally, Bo Zai Fan is made with cured meat, Chinese style sausage, and sometimes char siu as well. Obviously growing up my palate had been accustomed to really like the taste of these ingredients but now it's a known fact that a lot of the things we considered as "food" is neither good for our health or good for our planet.
So this is a completely vegan version of an old favorite, made with three different types of mushrooms and juicy veggies. The toppings for the rice are highly adaptable, you can choose whatever you like or whatever you have in the fridge!
The cooking part is really easy and patience is key in this recipe. Because we are using a clay pot so please use medium-low heat and low heat ONLY, and you'll be rewarded with the most aromatic and beautifully cooked rice in your life plus the golden, crunchy surprise at the bottom, look at that crispy layer! I only have a glass top stove but if you have a gas stove, you can tilt your clay pot around and scorch all sides to get an even bigger golden rice crust!
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup long-grain white rice, preferably jasmine rice
1 cup water (rice to water 1 to 1)
3-4 dried whole shiitake mushroom
0.3 oz dried wood ear mushroom
3 oz fresh beech mushroom
1/2 cup frozen edmame
1 carrot
1 purple carrot
Greens of choice, I used brocollini
1 tablespoon of oil
For the sauce -
2 tablespoon tamari/soy sauce
1 tablespoon vegan mushroom oyster sauce
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon water
TO MAKE:
- Rinse the rice 2 to 3 times until the water comes out clear, then soak the rice in an equal part of fresh water in the clay pot for at least 30 minutes, up to an hour;
- Soak the dried wood ear mushrooms in some hot water for 20 minutes, if you are using fresh wood ear, skip this step
- Add the dried shiitake mushroom to the rice pot, cover the pot with the lid and start cooking over medium-low heat, wait for it to reach a gentle simmer;
- Once you see steam coming out of the lid, uncover the pot, and you should see little holes forming on top of the surface, take out the shiitake mushrooms, which should be rehydrated at this point, and wait till the water is mostly evaporated, cover again, lower the heat to low, and steam for 20 minutes;
- Slice the shiitake mushrooms, and tear the big wood ear pieces to smaller ones, get rid of any hard tough roots;
- Thinly slice the carrots, I stamped out some flowers using a small cookie cutter;
- In a sauce bowl, mix the sauce ingredients together;
- When the first 20 minutes is up, add in all the mushrooms, carrots, and drizzle in half of the sauce, tilt the pot around for the sauce to distribute evenly;
- Cover with the lid, then drizzle 1 - 2 tablespoons of canola oil along the edge of the pot all the way around, this is an important step to create that crispy layer at the bottom! Let it cook for another 20 minutes over low heat;
- Bring a pot of water to boil, blanch the broccolini or your greens of choice till they just changes color;
- Add the greens and edamame to the clay pot, turn off the heat, and cover for 5 minutes;
- Serve immediately, drizzle on more sauce as needed, mix everything up, enjoy!
