A very kind friend, back from one of his many work jaunts to Hong Kong, returned with a box of the finest Chinese sausage for me. It was not just any waxed sausages, but the foie gras (goose liver) version from the famed Yung Kee Restaurant in the Central part of Hong Kong. Charles Ho presented me with one of the better headaches- what am I going to do with it. The red and gold box emitted a distinct (to me, perfumed) waxed and cured liver fragrance, way more intense than the stalls selling waxed sausages along Chinatown during new year do. Pan fry or steam them on its own, perhaps with kalian vegetables or mustard leaves or stuff them in glutinous rice dumplings- I was reeling in that fragrance wondering just what to do with it. Then, the epiphany. I saw chicken, waxed meat sausages with salted fish gazing at me in the fridge (I thought I heard them say “so what are you waiting for”) and I knew I had to make sabo fan or claypot rice.

In a league of its own-the goose liver
wax sausage from Yung Kee in Hong Kong.

If you are a claypot rice fan, then you’ll know that there is a special purgatory in your palate each time you think about that smoky rice sensation. Heaven is when you devour them, swirl it in your mouth- deliberately chew-searching out the chicken, salted fish, waxed meat and bits of roasty burnt rice, before it slides down the gullet and into paradise (stomach). The seasoned experts will go a step further to celebrate this meal. They’ll sit out till that last bowl of rice is scooped out of the claypot, and just when everyone is sated, they dig into to the layer of roasted and burnt rice crust sitting at pot base. They enjoy it soaked it in a soup (the daily double boiled soup that was offered at the shop), have it on its own (crispy, like a smoky burnt rice cracker) or like my late grandfather used to do- let it sit in his cup of Chinese tea, then devour (like how we enjoy Genmai or roasted rice tea).

If you are anticipating a recipe below and thinking “oh oh, I can’t cook for nuts but I know I need to go sabo fan heaven, like tonight, how?”, then this words below will guide you there. These days, you can count with the fingers in your hands the amount of good claypot rice makers around. We’re talking about the true and authentic ones who’ll defend their 30-40 minute cooking and wait time for you because that’s how long it’ll take a to make a good one. Just watching the kitchen lined with pots and pots of rice simmering over wood fire at Geylang Claypot Rice (639, Geylang Rd, Lor 33) will give you that rush to anticipate one of the finest sabo fan around. And if you’re in Chinatown Complex, the same goes for that two-in-one (one to cook, another to prep) claypot rice hawker stall in that hawker centre (Lian He Ben Ji, #02-198/198).

Meanwhile back to my foie gras wax sausages. This was what I did with it.

You can also top the claypot rice with some
string beans stir fried with garlic.

Ingedients:
500 grams chopped chicken parts (bite size)
12 slices each of chinese waxed meat and liver sausages
10 slices (half coin sized) salted fish
A rice bowlful of chye sim vegetable
4 tbsp(chinese soup spoon) oyster sauce
1.5 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp sugar
5 slices of ginger (coin size slices)
One tbsp of Chinese Hsiao Hsing wine
Half tbsp of white pepper powder
300gm of rice
Instead of 250 ml of water, change it to 350 ml of water. (typo corrected from earlier published version)

Method:
Marinate the chicken parts with the oyster sauce, sesame oil, sugar, ginger, wine and pepper for an hour. Place the rice and water in a claypot (do not use more water as rice will get soggy) or a similar pot.  Simmer it over low to medium fire for about 10minutes with lid on. Then place the marinated chicken, chinese sausages, salted fish and raw greens over the half done steaming rice. Let it simmer for another 20 minutes (lid on and check for chicken doneness).
 
When done, set aside the ingredients, and stir the rice with a sauce mix (3tbsp of oil, 1tbsp of sesame oil and 3tbsp of dark soy sauce). Replace the ingredients atop and tuck in.

Note: be very careful about the fire (when in doubt, use smaller heat) and the water to rice portioning (some rice need a bit more some less). This is what gives it that fragrantly charred claypot rice sensation.