Cantonese-Style Preserved Meat Clay Pot Rice
Cook the rice in the water used to rehydrate the dried shiitake mushrooms. Stir-fry the cured pork (là ròu) until fragrant, then add it to the nearly done rice and steam together. Finish by stirring in green peas and corn.
Ingredients
dried shiitake mushrooms
rice
Chinese preserved pork (lap cheong)
leafy greens
cooked rice
soy sauce
cooking wine
green peas
corn
salt
Instructions
1
Prepare the shiitake soaking water
Buy dried shiitake mushrooms, rinse off the surface, and rehydrate them. Let the soaking water settle, then use it to cook the rice. The finished rice will be very flavorful with a subtle color from the shiitake.
2
Stir-fry the preserved meat
Then stir-fry the preserved meat until fragrant and the fat renders out. If you'd like to add greens, you can toss them in at this stage and stir-fry them together. (Since everything will be mixed with the rice, season with salt to taste; you can also add a splash of soy sauce for richer color. I also added a bit of cooking wine while stir-frying the meat—it gives a nice wine aroma and tones down the smoky flavor.)
3
Combine and finish cooking
Pour the stir-fried preserved meat into the rice when it's nearly done and let it cook a bit longer. The meat's fat and aroma will soak into the rice, giving it a wonderfully chewy texture. (Adding the meat too early makes the rice hard. Restaurants use pre-soaked raw rice braised with the meat—if the fat from the meat soaks in too early, the rice can't absorb enough water and turns out a bit firm. But if you like it firm, go ahead and add the meat earlier.)
4
Add the peas and corn
Finally, add some green peas and corn and let it steam for a while—it looks pretty and helps cut the richness. I used a rice cooker for the steaming, so the rice and toppings come out piping hot together at the same time.
