Toisan yellow eel claypot rice

Yellow eel claypot rice is one of Taishan’s most iconic, famous dishes! Taishan is one of Guangdong’s “Four Counties”, and my parents, although they taught me how to speak Cantonese, actually grew up speaking the Taishan (Toisan) dialect.

While there’s a lot of overlap in food, culture, and language between Cantonese and Toisan folks, I didn’t realize until these past few years that so many of the foods I grew up eating are actually specific to the Taishan region and influence. For example our family’s Toisan-specific savory joong (zongzi) and savory tang yuan just to name a few!

This Toisan yellow eel claypot rice was one of my absolute favorite, most nostalgic dishes growing up. What’s even better now is the yellow eel we can get today are actually much larger and meatier than before, making them even tastier now!

What kind of eel is used for Toisan yellow eel claypot rice?

In the US, we’re only able to get frozen yellow eel for this claypot rice. This is the brand (Lam Sheng Kee) that we get from San Francisco Chinatown’s New Wing Lung Food market. We use two 8 oz packs (total 1 lb) for this recipe.

The package says “Asian Swamp Eel Meat,” and it comes pre-boiled and shredded. I believe we’ve also seen versions that are not pre-cooked.

What kind of claypot should I use? What if I don’t have a claypot?

This claypot is almost exactly the same one that my parents use at home. They also like to use a heat diffuser to help the heat more evenly distribute when cooking the rice.

If you don’t have a claypot, you can try another heavy-bottomed pot like a dutch oven. A cast iron with a lid may work as well, but make sure to control the heat well so that the rice doesn’t burn!

I’ll also be making a rice cooker version of this yellow eel rice that I’ll link here as soon as it’s ready!

You may also like these other Toisan recipes:

• Toisan Savory Tang Yuan
• Toisan Savory Joong (Zongzi)

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Toisan Yellow Eel Claypot Rice

One of Taishan's most famous dishes, this yellow eel crispy rice is fragrant, savory, and one of my most favorite and nostalgic dishes from my childhood. I hope you enjoy it!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutesmins

Cook Time 20 minutesmins

Total Time 50 minutesmins

Course Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine Asian, Chinese

Servings 4

Ingredients

1x2x3x

For the eel and marinade

• 1lbfrozen packaged yellow eel stripsaka Asian swamp eel, thawed
• 1tbspShaoxing wine
• 1/4tspchicken bouillon powder
• 1/4tspsalt
• Dashes of white pepper

For the rice

• 1.5cupjasmine rice
• 1.25cupwater

For stir-frying

• 2tbspneutral oil
• 2knobs of ginger
• 3clovesof garlic
• 1tbspsoy sauce
• 2stalksscallions

Garnish

• 1/4tspdark soy sauce
• 1/2tspsesame oil

Instructions

Prepare the yellow eel

• Add the thawed yellow eel strips to a bowl with 1 tbsp of salt. Gently massage the eel with the salt to remove their slimy mucus layer.
  1 lb frozen packaged yellow eel strips
• Rinse with water thoroughly and drain.
• Slice the eel into smaller 2 inch strips. Squeeze them dry with a paper towel so that the following marinade will absorb more easily.
• Add all the marinade ingredients to the eel and mix. Let marinade for about 20 minutes.
  1 tbsp Shaoxing wine, 1/4 tsp salt, Dashes of white pepper, 1/4 tsp chicken bouillon powder

Prepare the rice and other ingredients

• Wash the jasmine rice 2-3 times. Add the rice to the claypot, then fill it with water. The water level should be just slightly above the rice level. The sauce from the stir-fried eel will add additional moisture to the rice. 
  1.5 cup jasmine rice, 1.25 cup water
• Put the claypot on the stove on medium heat. 
• Meanwhile, prepare the aromatics. Slice the ginger, roughly chop the garlic, and slice the scallions.
  2 knobs of ginger, 3 cloves of garlic, 2 stalks scallions

Stir-fry the eel

• To a pan on medium-high heat, add neutral oil.
  2 tbsp neutral oil
• Add the garlic and ginger, stir-frying for 1-2 minutes or until they are fragrant and golden.
• Add the marinated eel (along with any extra liquid in the bowl) and continue stir-frying for another minute.
• Add in the soy sauce. Stir-fry for another 1-2 minutes, then take it off the heat (if you are using eel that is not pre-boiled or cooked, stir-fry for a few extra minutes). Make sure to keep all of the juices from stir-frying.
  1 tbsp soy sauce

Finish the rice

• Once the rice has absorbed most of the water and is dry on top (about 20 minutes), add the stir-fried eel and any additional liquid from stir-frying on top of the rice.
• If you want extra crispy rice, you can drizzle some oil around the perimeter of the rice. For more even heat distribution and evenly crispy rice, use a heat diffuser underneath the claypot. If the rice looks too toasty at this point, lower the heat. 
  1/4 tsp dark soy sauce, 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• Cover the lid and let it sit for 3-4 minutes. 
• Add the dark soy sauce and scallions. Mix the rice well, and enjoy! 
  1/4 tsp dark soy sauce

Video

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Keyword claypot rice, taishan yellow eel rice, toisan yellow eel rice, yellow eel claypot rice

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