Pork Rib Claypot Rice
豉汁排骨煲仔飯
Serves 2 · Prep: 30 minutes · Cook: 45 minutes · Total: about 1 hour 15 minutes
There’s nothing like claypot rice when you want a proper Hong Kong dinner at home. I usually go for pork ribs with black bean sauce because it’s the version I grew up ordering: rice on the bottom, ribs on top, bok choy added at the end, and sauce poured over right before eating.
Ingredients
Rice
- 1 cup jasmine rice
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon neutral oil
- Pinch of salt
Pork ribs
- 12 oz pork spare ribs, chopped into 1 to 1½ inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon fermented black beans, rinsed and roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon ginger, minced
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- ½ teaspoon dark soy sauce, for color (optional)
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
Claypot rice sauce
- 1½ tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon hot water
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
To finish
- 2 baby bok choy, halved or quartered
- 1 to 2 tablespoons neutral oil, for crisping the rice
- Sliced scallions
Instructions
- 1
Marinate the ribs
Mix the pork ribs with fermented black beans, garlic, ginger, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, sugar, cornstarch, white pepper, dark soy sauce if using, and 1 tablespoon oil. Marinate for at least 30 minutes — a few hours is better.
- 2
Rinse and soak the rice
Rinse the rice until the water runs mostly clear. Soak for 20 to 30 minutes, then drain well.
- 3
Start the rice
Add the drained rice, 1 cup water, 1 teaspoon oil, and a pinch of salt to a claypot or small heavy pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
- 4
Add the ribs
When the water is mostly absorbed and little steam holes appear on the surface of the rice, spread the marinated ribs over the top in one layer. Cover the pot, turn the heat to low, and cook for 15 minutes.
- 5
Add the bok choy
Add the bok choy on top of the ribs. Cover again and cook for another 4 to 5 minutes, until the greens are bright and the ribs are cooked through.
- 6
Crisp the rice
Drizzle 1 to 2 tablespoons oil around the inside edge of the pot. Keep the heat on low to medium-low for another 5 to 8 minutes. You should hear the rice crackling lightly at the bottom.
- 7
Rest
Turn off the heat and let the pot sit, covered, for 10 minutes. This finishes steaming the rice and pork.
- 8
Make the sauce
Stir together the light soy sauce, hot water, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, and sesame oil.
- 9
Serve
Pour the sauce over the rice right before eating. Add scallions, then mix everything together at the table, scraping up the crisp rice from the bottom.
Recipe notes
Cook’s notes
- Use small chopped spare ribs from a Chinese butcher if you can. Large ribs will not cook evenly on top of the rice.
- If your ribs are cut larger than 1½ inches, steam them separately for 10 minutes first, then add them to the rice when the surface water has mostly absorbed.
Equipment & shortcuts
- A claypot gives the best crust, but a small Dutch oven or heavy saucepan works too.
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