Rice-cooker eel and shiitake claypot rice
‘Eel in Minor Heat beats ginseng,’ says the old saying — tender eel and shiitake on rice, made easily in the rice cooker.
- 1 hr 5 min
- Serves 3
- Simmer
- Medium
Why it suits you: Qi Deficiency means tiring easily and losing your appetite, and summer sweating drains you further. As the saying goes, eel in Minor Heat beats ginseng: it builds qi and blood without being greasy, and with shiitake and rice it's an easy one-pot dinner.
Method
Prep 20 min · Cook 45 min- 1Cut the eel into 5 cm pieces. Pour hot water over them, scrape off the slime with the back of a knife, then rinse and pat dry. Soak the mushrooms until soft and slice, keeping the soaking water.
- 2Mix the eel and mushrooms with the ginger, 1 tbsp soy sauce, the oyster sauce, wine and cornflour, and marinate for 15 minutes.
- 3Rinse the rice and put it in the rice cooker. Add the mushroom water, then water up to the 2-cup line, and start the cook cycle.
- 4After about 15 minutes, when the surface water has gone and steam holes appear, quickly spread the eel and mushrooms on top. Close the lid, cook until it switches to warm, then leave for 10 minutes.
- 5Blanch the choy sum. Just before serving, drizzle the rest of the soy sauce over the rice, scatter with chopped spring onion and fold through from the bottom.
Cautions
- Buy eel killed fresh to order — never one that died beforehand — and cook it right through.
- Skip it during a cold, fever, sore throat or an eczema flare-up.
Chef's tips
- Ask the fishmonger to kill, bone and de-slime the eel for you — at home it just needs a quick rinse.
The TCM view
Eel is sweet and warm and enters the liver, spleen and kidneys, building qi and blood and strengthening the sinews; shiitake is sweet and neutral and supports digestion; rice settles the stomach; ginger is pungent and warm, removing fishiness and aiding digestion. The sweet warmth replaces what summer sweating takes, and cool choy sum balances it.
