Claypot chicken rice (煲仔饭), also known as bao zai fan, is a one-pot meal that's consists of fluffy long grain rice topped with flavorful and tender marinated chicken, shiitake mushrooms, Chinese sausage, and the most iconic and beloved part of the dish - the scorched rice!

Claypot rice is a very popular Chinese rice dish that's also popular in many Southeastern countries like Singapore and Maylasia. There are restaurants and food stalls that specialize in claypot rice and there's all sorts of toppings you can choose from.
Our version, the claypot chicken rice, is a classic choice and one of the most popular. While the claypot rice is cooking, the fragrance from the jasmine rice, marinated chicken, mushrooms, and scorched rice will tell you exactly how amazing it will taste!
If you want some veggies to go with the claypot rice, we highly recommend some simple sautéed garlic bok choy or garlic green beans. Some simple steamed or sautéed gai lan (Chinese broccoli) is amazing too!
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Ingredients
Please scroll down to the recipe card for the ingredient quantities!
For the claypot rice:
- Long grain white rice - We highly recommend jasmine rice for making this claypot chicken rice. It will produce super fragrant and fluffy rice. But regular long grain white rice will do as well.
- Water - Both boiling hot or cool water will be fine. The water is for cooking the rice and some will be needed to marinate the shiitake mushrooms.
- Dry shiitake mushroom - These dry shiitake mushrooms will add tons of flavor the the chicken claypot rice! We like to use dry ones because they absorb sauces easily and have a much longer shelf life.
- Chinese sausage - Also known as lap cheong (腊肠). We highly recommend using some Chinese sausage! It's a classic combo for chicken claypot rice. You can usually find them vacuum packed at most Asian markets in the refrigerated aisles and sometimes at Costco.
- Soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar - For the both the mushroom marinade and the sauce on the side.
- Green onions - Mostly for garnish, but also adds color and flavor to the claypot rice.
- Oil - Any neutral oil will do.
For the marinated chicken:
- Chicken thighs - Although traditionally, boned-in chicken is used, we recommend skinless, boneless chicken thighs for the easiest preparation and eating.
- Ginger - To add freshness to the chicken, which also gets rid of any unwanted chicken flavors. Fresh ginger will also make the claypot rice more fragrant.
- Shaoxing rice wine - Not only will shaoxing cooking wine make the rice more fragrant, it also gets rid of any unwanted chicken flavors
- Soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar - For marinating the chicken thighs.
- Dark soy sauce - To give the chicken and marinade a darker color. Although dark soy sauce is not necessary, we highly recommend it. It'll make the chicken look better after cooking.
- Sesame oil - Optional oil to make the chicken extra fragrant. If not, regular oil will do too.
How to make chicken claypot rice
For the mushrooms:
1. Rehydrate the dry shiitake mushrooms by soaking them in hot water for about 10 to 15 minutes.
2. Once the mushrooms are rehydrated, squeeze the mushrooms to remove excess water. Cut off the woody stem of the mushrooms, then cut the mushrooms into quarters.
3. In a small bowl, combine the water, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sugar. Mix well and add the rehydrated and cut mushrooms. Give it a stir and let the mushrooms marinate until needed.
Marinate the chicken:
1. In a medium bowl, mix together minced ginger, oyster sauce, soy sauce, rice cooking wine, sugar, and dark soy sauce.
2. Add the diced chicken thighs and mix until evenly coated. Set aside to marinate for at least 30 minutes or cover and marinate overnight in the fridge.
🌟 Pro tip: If marinating overnight, make sure to remove the chicken from the fridge about 1 hour before cooking, so the chicken can be brought to room temperature. This ensures the chicken gets cooked faster and on time.
3. When ready to use, optional add 2 teaspoons of sesame oil to the marinated chicken and mix well.
Make the claypot rice:
*One recipe requires a claypot with 40 ounce capacity*
1. Wash and rinse the jasmine rice 2 to 3 minutes and drain well.
🌟 Pro tip: Use a sieve to help you completely drain all the water from the rice. This ensures there's not too much water, which could give you soggy rice.
2. Heat the claypot over low heat and add a small amount of oil. Brush the oil around the entire bottom and sides of the claypot.
3. Add the prepared rice to the claypot and immediately add the water. Stir to level out the rice, increase the heat to medium, and replace the lid. Bring the rice to a boil.
4. When the rice is boiling, remove the lid. Then, let the rice keep cooking until most of the water is absorbed.
5. Quickly spread the marinated chicken over the rice in as even of a layer as possible, followed by the thinly sliced Chinese sausages and the marinated mushrooms. Replace the lid and reduce the heat to low. Let the rice cook for about 15 minutes, until you hear sizzling sound. This indicates that most of the moisture is cooked out.
6. Once you hear the sizzling sound, evenly pour the 2 tablespoons of oil around the edge of the lid. Let the rice cook for another 2 minutes.
Make the scorched rice:
7. After 2 minutes, increase the heat to medium and tilt and rotate the claypot to scorch the rice, about 2 minutes on each sides. Make sure to be careful and use a dry towel or kitchen mitts! The claypot handles and lid will be very hot!
8. Reduce the heat back to low and let the rice cook for another 2 to 4 minutes. At this point, the chicken should be perfectly cooked.
9. Carefully remove the claypot and garnish the rice with the sliced green onions.
How to eat claypot rice
Mix up the claypot rice and enjoy! The claypot chicken rice should be pretty flavorful on its own, but you can also drizzle some sauce (provided in the recipe below) over it if you prefer it more seasoned. Also make sure to dig up the beautiful scorched rice at the bottom of the claypot. You can eat the scorched rice separately or mix it into the claypot rice for some extra crunch and flavor.
Recipe tips
- A gas stovetop is a must if you want a good scorched rice bottom. Only open flames can develop crispy rice on the sides of the claypot. Also, claypots work best on gas stoves.
- Marinate the chicken overnight for best flavor. However, do remove the chicken from the fridge at least 1 hour before use, so that the chicken can be brought to room temperature.
- Practice makes perfect! Claypot rice is one of those dishes that you'll only get better the more times you make it. Sight and hearing is very important in this recipe because every stovetop is different, which requires you to adjust and control the heat as needed.
- Use boiling hot water to help cut time. Hot water will boil and cook the rice faster than starting with cold water.
- A little bit of burnt rice on the scorched rice is perfectly fine! It will actually make the claypot chicken rice more flavorful. Of course, don't go overboard and burn the entire bottom.
Storage and reheating
Leftover chicken claypot rice should be removed from the claypot and allowed to cool completely before storing in airtight containers. Keep the leftover rice refrigerated and it will stay good for up to 3 to 4 days.
To reheat, simply microwave the rice until heated through, or you can even stir fry on the stovetop until hot with a little bit of water and oil. Do note that the scorched rice will not be crunchy like when it was freshly made.
FAQ
Claypot rice is best made with long grain rice because it has the least amount of starch, which will give us fluffy rice. Our favorite rice to use for claypot rice is jasmine rice because it'll be super fragrant and produce fluffy rice.
Although the shiitake mushrooms are not a must, we highly recommend it! Shiitake mushrooms add so much flavor to the dish and makes it super fragrant.
Both hot and cold water is fine for making claypot rice. However, hot water will boil fast and help the rice cook faster. This will not change the cook time significantly but will reduce it by a few minutes.
The best substitute for Shaoxing rice wine is some dry sherry mixed with a small amount of water. Use 1 tablespoon of dry sherry mixed with water for 1 tablespoon of rice wine. If you prefer to not use alcohol, substitute with water instead.
If you’ve made this recipe or any recipes from our blog, please tag us on Instagram using #twoplaidaprons! You can also tag us in your Instagram stories using @two_plaid_aprons. We would love to see your creations! It absolutely makes our day! 🥰
📖 Recipe
Claypot Chicken Rice (煲仔饭)
Ingredients
For the claypot rice:
- 2 cups jasmine rice or regular long grain white rice
- 1¾ cups water boiling hot water would save some time
- 2 links Chinese sausage thinly sliced
- 1 stalk green onions thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons oil any neutral oil will do (plus a little more for cooking)
For the marinated chicken:
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons ginger minced (about a 2 inch knob)
- 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1½ tablespoons soy sauce light sodium
- 1½ tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine
- 1½ teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1½ teaspoons dark soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil or regular oil (optional)
For the mushrooms:
- 3 pieces dried shiitake mushrooms
- 2 teaspoon water
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce low sodium
- ¼ teaspoon granulated sugar
Sauce (optional):
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce low sodium
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
Instructions
For the mushrooms:
- Rehydrate the dry shiitake mushrooms by soaking them in hot water for about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Once the mushrooms are rehydrated, squeeze the mushrooms to remove excess water. Cut off the stem of the mushrooms, then cut the mushrooms into quarters.
- In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients (water, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sugar). Mix well and add the rehydrated and cut mushrooms. Give it a stir and let the mushrooms marinate until needed.
Marinate the chicken:
- In a medium bowl, mix together minced ginger, oyster sauce, soy sauce, rice cooking wine, sugar, and dark soy sauce. Add the diced chicken thighs and mix until evenly coated. Set aside to marinate for at least 30 minutes or cover and marinate overnight in the fridge.*If marinating overnight, make sure to remove from the fridge about 1 hour before cooking, so the chicken warm at room temperature.*
- Optional: When ready to use, add 2 teaspoons of sesame oil to the marinated chicken and mix well.
Make the claypot rice:
- Wash and rinse the jasmine rice 2 to 3 times and drain well.
- *One full recipe requires a claypot with 40 ounce capacity*Heat the claypot over low heat and add a small amount of oil. Brush the oil around the entire bottom and sides of the claypot.
- Add the rinsed rice to the claypot and immediately add the water. Level out the rice, increase the heat to medium, and replace the lid. Bring the rice to a boil.
- When the rice is boiling, remove the lid. If the rice need leveling out again, give it a stir, then let the rice cook until most of the water is absorbed.
- Quickly spread the marinated chicken over the rice in as even of a layer as possible, followed by the thinly sliced Chinese sausages and the marinated mushrooms. Replace the lid and reduce the heat to low. Let the rice cook for about 15 minutes, until you hear sizzling sounds. This indicates that most of the moisture is cooked out.
- Once you hear the sizzling sound, evenly pour the 2 tablespoons of oil around the edge of the lid. Let the rice cook for another 2 minutes.
- After 2 minutes, increase the heat to medium and tilt and rotate the claypot about 20 degrees to scorch the rice around the sides, about 2 minutes on each side. Make sure to be careful and use a dry towel or kitchen mitts! The claypot handles and lid will be very hot!
- Reduce the heat back to low and let the rice cook for another 2 to 4 minutes. At this point, the chicken should be perfectly cooked.
- Carefully remove the claypot and garnish the rice with the sliced green onions.
- Mix up the claypot rice and enjoy! The rice should be pretty flavorful on its own, but you can also drizzle sauce over it, if you prefer it more seasoned. Also make sure to dig up the beautiful scorched rice at the bottom of the claypot. You can eat the scorched rice separately or mix it into the claypot rice.
(Optional) Sauce:
- Mix together all the ingredients (oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sugar) until the sugar is dissolved. Use as needed.
Notes
- Claypot - Using a claypot will make this dish super fragrant and will allow you to get that beautiful scorch rice on the bottom. However, you can also make it in a dutch oven, regular heavy bottom pot, or even the rice cooker.
- Scorch rice - It may be personal preference, but a small amount of burnt pieces on the scorch rice will add a very nice layer of flavor to the chicken claypot rice. So don't be afraid to add some char. However, don't go overboard or the rice will be bitter!
- It is crucial that the marinated chicken is evenly spread out, preferably in one single layer, so that it can be cooked evenly.
Tom says
Not sure what I did wrong but the chicken was raw on the bottom. My clay pot is narrower but taller than the one specified so maybe that was the problem.
Mei says
Hi Tom!
We're sorry to hear that the chicken didn't cooked through =\
This could be caused by the claypot being more narrow. It is best to place the chicken on top of the rice in a single layer rather than stacked. This promotes even cooking.
To accomodate for using a narrower claypot, we recommend putting less chicken on the rice, so that it's only a single layer.
Also, if you refrigerated the chicken, try letting the chicken come to room temperature before using. This will take off the chill on the chicken, reducing the cook time the chicken needs.
Hope this helps!
Mei ❤️
Mar says
When measuring the rice, do you use a standard measuring cup or the rice cup that comes with the rice cooker?
Mei says
Hi Mar! We used a standard measuring cup =)
Mei ❤️