[Bo Jai Fan (Clay Pot Rice)]
"Bo jai fan" (煲仔飯), which is widely eaten in Hong Kong, Macau, Guangdong Province, and Singapore, etc. It is rice cooked in an unglazed earthenware pot for one person. It is rice cooked in an unglazed earthenware pot for one person, where "煲" means "pot" and "仔" means "small" in Cantonese, and is also called "Bo jai fan is a dish to taste rice." Since the earthenware pot, which is hard to heat up and hard to cool down, does not keep rice cold even after a long time, it is an ideal cookware for bo jai fan, in which rice is the main dish. It is made with various ingredients, and the most popular are Cantonese sausage, chicken and shiitake mushrooms, spare ribs, and boiled chicken.
The staff from Guangdong recommended bo jai fan, which uses Guangdong-style sausage. However, it isn't easy to get Cantonese sausage, so I made it using salami made by drying it in the same way. It is a salami for snacks, which you can buy at the supermarket.
Matsuyama Tokojo's Yukihira Pot #5, made by traditional method using only heat-resistant clay from Iga, is a convenient size for cooking up to 2 cups of cooked rice. It looks similar to an earthenware pot for making bo jai fan. Still, locally, it is sometimes made in smaller earthenware pots such as the small Matsuyama Tokojo’s Dobai Hanten Donabe, in addition to ceramic one-handled pots. And in both clay pots, the presence of "okoge" that can be made only in an earthenware pot cooked over an open fire is indispensable for bo jai fan. The fragrant roasted rice on the bottom of the pot is called "鍋巴" (nozai), which is regarded as the most delicious part of bo jai fan or fried rice by many people.
In the restaurant of bo jai fan that I saw on YouTube video the other day, I was impressed by the craftsmanship of the cooks who put an earthenware pot on the fire, adjusted the heat, added ingredients, added okoge, and made ordered bo jai fan skillfully one after another. In Guangzhou city, Guangdong province, there are many stores that offer bo jai fan, and I heard that there are many stores where you can see the cooking process up close. How about making Hong Kong and Guangdong specialties with ingredients available at local supermarkets?
Bo jai fan
Ingredients (for 2-3 persons):
1 (53g) Salami
Leafy greens such as bok choy, etc. as needed
2 cups rice
2 cups water
A pinch of oil
A pinch of ginger
(Seasoning sauce)
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon hot water
A pinch of scallion oil (use oil and appropriate amount of scallions)
Directions:
1. Spread a thin layer of oil in a saucepan, add the washed rice, add water, cover with a lid, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover the spout with rolled aluminum foil to prevent steam from escaping from the spout.
2. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and cook for 5 minutes.
3. boil vegetables of your choice, such as bok choy, in boiling water and cut into bite-size pieces.
4. Cut ginger into thin strips, open the lid, and sprinkle over the rice. Slice the Cantonese sausage thinly, arrange on top of the rice with the boiled vegetables, and cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
5. Combine the seasoning sauce ingredients.
6. Pour the seasoning sauce over the cooked rice, then turn the heat to high to make okoge if desired.
7. Turn off the heat and let the rice steam for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat the appropriate amount of oil and scallions over low heat until the scallions begin to brown, making scallion oil.
8. Open the lid, pour the oil and stir well.
Matsuyama Tokojo's Yukihira Pot #5
https://www.shokunin.com/en/matsuyama/
Matsuyama Tokojo’s Dobai Hanten Donabe
https://www.shokunin.com/en/matsuyama/donabe.html
Seiryugama's Rice Bowl L
https://www.shokunin.com/en/seiryu/chawan.html
Hakusan Porcelain's Hirachawan ST16
https://www.shokunin.com/en/hakusan/hirachawan.html
References
http://xhslink.com/G1q1Sq (Reference recipe)
https://80c.jp/restaurant/20220221-1.html
http://www.pocketpageweekly.com/szgz/71690/
