Pictorial: Minced Beef Over Rice in Clay Pot

[hzrt8w]

Pictorial Recipe

Minced Beef Over Rice in Clay Pot (窩蛋免冶牛肉煲仔飯)

One thing that I don't like about having steamed minced beef in Chinese restaurants, be it in clay pot or in dim sum dishes, is that the beef seems too soft and spongy. Probably it is the result of using meat tenderizing agent like borax or carbonate. I like making minced beef dishes at home to avoid these additives. This is a rice clay pot with minced beef.

Picture of the finished dish:

Serving Suggestion: 2-3

Preparations:

Main ingredients (upper center, clockwise):

- 2 to 3 cup of long grain rice

- Minced beef, about 1/2 lb

- Gai Lan (Chinese broccoli), about 3-4 stalks

- 1 small egg

- (Not shown in picture) Garlic, about 2-3 cloves

- (Not shown in picture) Ginger, about 1 inch in length

Cooking Instructions:

Slightly rinse the rice grain. Add about 2 cups of water. Pour the rice/water mixture onto the clay pot. Set on stove and heat over medium/slow fire with lid on. It will take about 10-15 minutes for the water to boil.

Meanwhile, add the minced beef to a food processor. To marinate: add 1 tsp of sesame oil, 2 tsp of ShaoHsing cooking wine, 1 tsp of ground white pepper, 2 tsp of dark soy sauce, 1-2 tsp of corn starch and a pinch (e.g. 1/4 tsp or to taste) of salt. Also, peel and press 2-3 garlic and grate 1-inch worth of ginger and add them to the mixture. Optionally, you may add about 4-5 peeled water chestnuts (freshed or canned, finely chop them first) to the mixture to make the beef patty softer.

Break the egg and add the egg white to the beef mixture. Save the egg yolk for later.

Use the food processor to blend the mixture for about 1/2 to 1 minute.

(The color of this mixture turned out a little more pink than I expected. If you want the color darker, you may add some more soy sauce.)

The key is: Watch the rice in the clay pot. Once the water start boiling and reducing, add the minced beef patty on top of the rice once the water looks almost evaporated. Continue to cook with the lid on for another 3 to 5 minutes. Don't add the beef too early or too late as it can easily overcook or undercook.

While the beef is cooking, use a second pot to blanch the 3-4 stalks of Chinese broccoli. Drain well.

When the beef/rice is ready, transfer the broccoil to the clay pot and lay them around the rim. Make a small impression at the center of the beef patty and add the raw egg yolk on top.

To make a sauce: Use a small bowl. Add 3 tblsp of dark soy sauce, 3 tblsp of hot water, 2 tsp of sugar. Mix well. Add the sauce (to taste) to the beef/rice clay pot at the dinner table before serving.

Picture of the finished dish.

[Dejah]

The addition of baking soda doesn't give you the spongy texture; it makes the beef "chu how". The sponginess comes from the beating which incorporates air into the meat mixture.

When I make yuk bang, I like to add minced ham choi for the crunch and flavour, and I love the meat juice seeping down into the rice.

When hubby (who does not cook) was doing a 3 month teaching stint in an isolated northern reserve for our university, I prepared and froze packages of this beef, ginger, and ham choi or mui choi, chicken and ginger, and pork and ham choi for him to cook on top of the rice in his electric rice cooker.

Do you break the yolk just before serving? Will the heat of the meat and rice "cook" the yolk?

The gai lan certainly adds to the colourful presentation.

If you are making this dish for the first time, make sure that you are using the small measuring cup that comes with rice cookers and not the regular measuring cups we use in the kitchen.

[warlockdilemma]

Ah Leung Kuo,this looks like a simple nice recipe,problem is that I do not have a clay pot,would a rice cooker do the job as well????(I hope this is not a stupid question)

BTW,great job with the pictorial.Maybe one of the best on the web.Its the one thing I look forward to on Sunday evenings.Keep it up.

Edited August 14, 2006 by warlockdilemma (log)

[Dejah]

Ah Leung Kuo,this looks like a simple nice recipe,problem is that I do not have a clay pot,would a rice cooker do the job as well????(I hope this is not a stupid question)

←

That's how my hubby, who as I mentioned (up-post) cannot cook, achieved this recipe: in an electric rice cooker.

You can also use an ordinary pot on top of the stove.

[warlockdilemma]

Ah Leung Kuo,this looks like a simple nice recipe,problem is that I do not have a clay pot,would a rice cooker do the job as well????(I hope this is not a stupid question)

←

That's how my hubby, who as I mentioned (up-post) cannot cook, achieved this recipe: in an electric rice cooker.

You can also use an ordinary pot on top of the stove.

←

Oops,did not notice that part on your post.Thx ,Dejah. Rice cookers are so convenient.

[hzrt8w]

Do you break the yolk just before serving? Will the heat of the meat and rice "cook" the yolk?

←

Yes, just break the yolk with the spoon when scooping the beef/rice.

No, the yolk would not be cooked. That's the way this dish is consumed in Hong Kong.

[hzrt8w]

Ah Leung Kuo,this looks like a simple nice recipe,problem is that I do not have a clay pot,would a rice cooker do the job as well????(I hope this is not a stupid question)

←

Thanks for your kind words, warlockdilemma. I agree with Dejah Dai Ga Jeah that the electric rice cooker would do fine. Just that you don't get any fan jiu!

Edited August 14, 2006 by hzrt8w (log)

[Dejah]

Ah Leung Kuo,this looks like a simple nice recipe,problem is that I do not have a clay pot,would a rice cooker do the job as well????(I hope this is not a stupid question)

←

Thanks for your kind words, warlockdilemma. I agree with Dejah Dai Ga Jeah that the electric rice cooker would do fine. Just that you don't get any fan jiu!

←

That's when I would make it in a pot on top of the stove.

[AzianBrewer]

Ah Leung- This reminds me of minced beef and rice (min-ji ou-yuk fon or war-da ou-yuk fon) that my grandma made back in the days. Her version is saucier and with green pea.