Hong Kong Rice Hot Pot with Chinese Preserved Meats

I have been trying to make Hong Kong Rice Hot Pot ('Po Chai Fan') for so long. Y and I are fond lovers of Po Chai Fan: crispy rice crust at the bottom, sweet soy sauce, rice doused with the fragrant oil of preserved meat... Perfect for a substantial warming meal in winter. After doing some extensive online research, I realised the best utensil to make Po Chai Fan is in fact a cast iron pot. It makes sense to me because cast iron distributes heat fast and evenly, which is conducive to the forming of crispy rice crust at the bottom. So I took out my small Le Creuset 18cm casserole to make Po Chai Fan and the rest is history...

Oh...and from now on, I will have to ask Y 'what's your fourth favourite food?'...

Serves 3

Ingredients:

For the rice

1. 300g Jasmine rice
2. 2 Chinese sausages ('lap cheong')
3. 1 Chinese preserved meat ('lap yuk')
4. A few drops of oil

For the soy sauce

1. 2 garlic cloves
2. 2 tablespoons oil
3. 100ml water
4. 60ml light soy sauce
5. 30ml dark soy sauce
6. 20g rock sugar

Method:

• Put the Chinese sausage and preserved meat into a pan of cold water and bring it to the boil. Drain the water and wash the Chinese sausage and preserved meat under cold water tap. Cut each Chinese sausage into 4 pieces and slice the preserved meat.
• Rinse the rice and put the rice and water into the casserole. The rice and water ratio should be about 1: 1 1/4 (use your normal rice to water ratio, as different rice has different absorption rate). Turn on medium heat, close the lid and let the water comes to a boil. Lift the lid to check in about 3-4 minutes' time. Once it comes to a boil, lower the heat immediately and cook for a further 2 minutes.
• Lift the lid, you shall see the 'holes' in the rice, and the rice should now be level with the water. Add Chinese sausage and preserved meat, taking care to insert the Chinese sausage pieces into the rice vertically, so that any juices oozing from the sausage can infuse the rice.
• Close the lid and turn up to medium heat and cook for 3 minutes. Open the lid and use a spoon to add a few drops of oil to the rims of the pot, which helps to create the crispy crust. Turn down the heat to the lowest setting immediately, close the lid and cook for a further 20-5 minutes.
• In the meantime, make the sweet soy sauce by finely chopping the garlic and frying the garlic in the oil until golden, then take out the garlic while reserving the oil in the pan. On low heat, add to the pan light soy, dark soy, water and rock sugar until the rock sugar is fully dissolved.
• When the rice is ready, turn off the heat, pour 2 tablespoons of the prepared soy sauce into the rice, close the lid and let it rest for 2 minutes. Serve with more soy sauce if you like.