Bao Zai Fan (Cantonese Claypot Rice with Chinese Sausage)

Name: Bao Zai Fan (Cantonese Claypot Rice with Chinese Sausage)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: rice 1 cup; Chinese sausage 120 g; bok choy 120 g; soy sauce 2 tbsp; oyster sauce 1 tbsp; sesame oil 1 tsp; water 280 ml

Quick answer

Total time: 45 min
Level: Hard
Servings: 2 servings
Ingredients: 7

About this dish

A golden crust called fan jiu forms where the rice touches the hot clay, while the top layer stays soft and glossy with fat from sliced Chinese sausage.

Hong Kong dai pai dong stalls and old Guangzhou restaurants have long served it as a winter dish. At the table, a mix of soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sesame oil is poured over and stirred through, turning the white rice amber. A sharp scorched smell means the heat must come down at once, since clay holds heat after leaving the flame and keeps toasting the bottom. Too much water, whether in the pot or clinging to the soaked rice, keeps the crust from forming.

Ingredients

servings

IngredientAmount

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Instructions

6 steps

1

Soak 1 cup of rice in water for 20 minutes so the grains hydrate evenly.

Drain it well in a fine strainer before cooking, since excess soaking water can make the claypot too wet and weaken the crust.
2

Put the drained rice and 280 ml water in a claypot and set it over medium heat.

Cook until the water bubbles steadily and small steam holes appear on the rice surface, without stirring the grains.
3

Slice 120 g Chinese sausage about 0.5 cm thick while the rice starts cooking.

When the surface water has mostly disappeared, spread the slices evenly over the rice and cover the pot tightly.
4

Lower the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes so the sausage fat melts down into the rice.

If the smell turns sharply scorched instead of toasted, reduce the heat at once.
5

Blanch 120 g bok choy briefly in boiling water, just until the green color brightens and the stems stay crisp.

In a small bowl, mix 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp oyster sauce, and 1 tsp sesame oil.
6

For a stronger bottom crust, raise the heat to medium-low for only the final minute, then turn off the heat and rest 5 minutes.

Add the bok choy and sauce, mix until the rice turns amber, and serve.