Claypot rice with white radish and minced pork
Shredded white radish, shiitake and minced pork cooked on rice in a claypot, the radish soaking up the juices — finished with sweet soy and a crisp rice crust.
- 50 min
- Serves 2
- Claypot
- Medium
Why it suits you: Sensitive types react easily, sneezing or getting itchy skin when the seasons turn, and Hanlu's dry air makes the nose and throat more irritable. White radish moistens the lungs, resolves phlegm and aids digestion, pork nourishes yin and moistens dryness, and shiitake strengthens the spleen. With no seafood or nuts and simple ingredients, a piping-hot claypot rice is a reassuring lunch.
Method
Prep 20 min · Cook 30 min- 1Rinse the rice, soak for 30 minutes and drain. Soak the shiitake until soft and dice. Peel the radish, cut into fine shreds and squeeze out the excess water.
- 2Mix the pork with the shiitake, ginger, 1 tsp of the soy sauce, the cornflour and ½ tsp oil; leave for 10 minutes.
- 3Brush a claypot with oil, add the rice and water, bring to the boil over a high heat, then cover and cook over a medium-low heat for 10 minutes until the water is almost absorbed.
- 4Spread the radish and pork over the rice, drizzle a little oil around the edge of the pot, cover and cook over a low heat for 12–15 minutes, then turn off the heat and leave for 5 minutes more.
- 5Mix the remaining soy sauce and sugar with 1 tbsp hot water. Blanch the choi sum, scatter the rice with spring onion, pour over the sauce and mix before eating.
Cautions
- This recipe avoids seafood and nuts — the traditional version adds dried shrimp, so leave it out if shellfish disagrees with you; soy sauce contains soy and wheat, so season with salt if needed.
Chef's tips
- Squeeze the radish well so the rice doesn't turn soggy; for a crisp crust, turn the heat up for the last minute until you hear it crackle, then turn it off.
The TCM view
White radish is pungent, sweet and cool, entering the lungs and stomach, moistening the lungs, resolving phlegm and aiding digestion, and becomes gentler once cooked. Pork is sweet, salty and neutral, nourishing yin and moistening dryness; shiitake strengthens the spleen and boosts qi; rice tonifies the middle; ginger warms the middle and tempers the radish's coolness.
