Sand Pots - 砂锅 or 沙锅

[liuzhou]

砂锅 or 沙锅  (both shā guō) literally means 'sand pot' and is an earthernware dish used in Chinese cuisine both as a cooking utensil and serving dish. It is used for soups, casseroles etc. but mostly for one pot meals of rice with a topping of various meats, tofu or, less often, vegetarian dishes. They are also used in the preparation of herbal medicines.

They are made of a type of white clay which is impregnable to acids, alkalines or salt. Most come from two places - Foshan in Guangzhou Province and Yixing in Jiangsu Province. They are then sold all over China, including Hong Kong and Macao, as well as in south-east Asia.

Being made from baked clay, they can be fragile so require careful handling. They should never be put on a heat source when empty. Some liquid (water, stock or oil) is necessary. Otherwise, they are liable to crack.

 

New pots should be soaked for at least four hours then heated a few times to boil water before proper use. This 'tempers' the clay.

They can take high temperatures, but the temperature should begin low and build up slowly. When removing from the heat source, be careful to place it on a suitable mat or wooden board. Placing on a wet or cold surface can also lead to cracking.

Basically,  they come in two types. The most simple is this.

 

 

Used in takeaway and home delivery outlets, the pot usually comes free. (They cost the restaurant about 1 yuan (USD $0.15).

 

More 'upmarket' and decorative pots are sold for home use and for serving.

 

 

They can, as you see, become discoloured with cooking use (as opposed to presentation use).

 

Finally, this monster is used for brewing herbal medicines.

 

 

Would be interested to see any dishes made using these.

 

This old post lists several of the dishes I can order for delivery.

Edited February 10, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[weinoo]

Awesome...I have (had) a few sand pots (over the years); some came with delivery, as mentioned above (NOT IN CHINA, IN NYC). Some I purchased - maybe even a fancier one at one time.

 

This one is real basic, like the first one shown up above; often here, they are enclosed with some wire.

 

 

A different one (I wonder what the hell happens to these?):

 

 

This one is a bit nicer - bought in 2012:

 

 

But still with the wire. And I just realized, this is the one from my first picture! 

 

 

Looks like sand pot rice with sausage and mushrooms, and stir-fried shrimp and cabbage. Dated Feb. 3, 2009!! Wow.

 

In China, are they ever called Clay Pots? Because that seems to be the preferred term here...

 

Clay Pot Pork.pdf

[heidih]

@mizducky asked about the wire thing in the clay pot discussion, Maybe stability or heat conduction. A couple interesting observations in the old clay pot topic. 

As much as I love pottery and the look of these I do not have one. Hhmmm   https://forums.egullet.org/topic/89595-clay-pots/

 

[liuzhou]

14 hours ago, weinoo said:

In China, are they ever called Clay Pots?

 

The two Chinese names I gave literally translate as "Sand Pots". I have heard of them being referred to as 'clay pots', but not in China.

 

That said, they are made from a type of clay.

Edited February 22, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[Tropicalsenior]

On 2/21/2021 at 4:03 AM, liuzhou said:

Would be interested to see any dishes made using these.

Thank you, I have always wondered what those were used for. The restaurant supply in Chinatown that I go to has quite a few of these in all sizes. They also have every other one that you have shown. Do the ceramic ones need to be tempered in the same way that the clay pots do?

[liuzhou]

9 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

Do the ceramic ones need to be tempered in the same way that the clay pots do?

 

Some do; some don't. So, I do all!

[Tropicalsenior]

59 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

Some do; some don't. So, I do all!

Makes sense to me, thank you.

[weinoo]

1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

 

Some do; some don't. So, I do all!

 

Yes - same as cazuelas, same as donabes, etc. etc.

 

How big is that herbal "brewer" approximately? I like the spout (if it's a spout).

[liuzhou]

8 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

Yes - same as cazuelas, same as donabes, etc. etc.

 

How big is that herbal "brewer" approximately? I like the spout (if it's a spout).

 

15 cm tall by 20 cm wide. Capacity 5 litres. Yes, it's a spout.

[liuzhou]

Every day I get a text message featuring a couple of free recipes (in Chinese, of course). I've never made any, but often been tempted. Today, unusually, the message contains 50 recipes - "50 Specialty Signature Dishes". Quite a number are sandpot dishes. Here's just a few.  I'm still making my way through them.

 

Braised Donkey

 

Chicken and Beef Soup

 

The name of this translates as '3 Auspicious Treasures'. These are beef tendons, chicken leg and lambs testicles.

Braised Bull's Whip (a euphemism for penis)

 

 

Edited February 26, 2021 by liuzhou (log)