Here are step-by-step instructions for cooking Chinese Teochew Clay Pot Yam Rice (潮州芋头饭 cháo zhōu yù tou fàn). Yam rice or Taro rice is one of the notable dishes found in Teochew cuisine that my mum loves to eat. This Chinese Teochew Yam Rice is a savory rice dish made with yam and meat. Yam is a very good ingredient for health not just to increase satiety. It has almost three times the dietary fiber, which is important for proper digestive health and regularity. It helps stabilize blood sugar, prevents anemia, antioxidant, maintenance a good digestion system and improve excretion.

How to cook Yam Rice

Servings:

6-8 persons

Ingredients:

30g dried shrimp
4 cloves garlic
200g pork/pork belly/roasted pork
350g yam (taro)
2 cups rice
2 tablespoons oil
½ tablespoon dark soy sauce
½ tablespoon light soy sauce

Method:

1. Clean the dried shrimp, remove the dirt (if any). Then soak in cold water for a while and drain it. If you are in a hurry you can soak the dried shrimp in warm water so that it will soften faster.
2. Chop the garlic. Slice the pork.
3. Peel the yam. Rub some salt on the yam and rinse with water. Cut the yam into cubes.
4. Rinse rice a few times in a strainer before cooking. Put aside.
5. Heat up 2 tablespoons of oil in a clay pot.
6. Stir-fry chopped garlic and dried shrimp until fragrant.
7. Add in pork slices, stir-fry until the meat changes color.
8. Add in yam cubes, do a few quick stirs.
9. Add rice, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce and stir-fry until all the ingredients are well mixed.
10. Add 4 cups of water into the clay pot and cook until boil.
11. Cover the clay pot and turn the heat down to low. Start checking the rice around 18 minutes.
12. When the rice is done, turn off the heat and take off the lid.
13. Fluff the rice with a wooden spoon or fork, and let it sit for a few moments.
14. Serve hot with some fried shallot crisps and Chinese celery.

Note:

– 2 cups of rice is about 400 grams.
– You can add some shallot in while stir-frying the garlic and dried shrimps.
– If you do not have a clay pot, after stir-frying everything (step 9), transfer it into the rice cooker, add water and cook the rice as usual way.
– The best rice to use for this dish is long grain rice. This will give you the best chance of serving rice that is not gloppy and wet.
– For most rice, use the 1:2 ratio of one cup of rice to two cups of water. Some rice varieties will need a little less or a little more water as it cooks, so check the package for specific instructions.
– Do not stir the rice while it is cooking, because stirring will make it stickier.
– Do not take off the lid while the rice is cooking – this lets the steam out and affects the cooking time.
– Some people like soft rice, some like hard rice. Put less water if you like it harder.
– Add more dark soy sauce and light soy sauce if you like the Yam Rice darker and saltier.

FYI: Teochew (also known as The Chaozhou people) are Han Chinese people, native to the Chaoshan region of eastern Guangdong province who speaks the Teochew dialect. Today, most Teochew people live outside China in Southeast Asia especially in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia. In Malaysia and Singapore, “Yam” is used to refer to taro. Usually, we eat this Yam Rice with Teochew Pig’s Organ Soup or try it with any other Chinese salted/preserved vegetables soup, like Szechuan Preserved Vegetable Soup.