Toisan yellow eel crispy rice (no claypot)

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!

While the claypot version of this dish is most traditional, many of us don’t have claypots or gas stoves at home. This recipe simply uses a rice cooker and a regular pan to get the crispy rice, but you can find our Toisan yellow eel claypot rice recipe here.

What kind of eel is used for Toisan yellow eel 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.

You may also like these other Toisan recipes:

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

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Toisan Yellow Eel Crispy Rice (No Claypot!)

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!

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Prep Time 30 minutesmins

Cook Time 30 minutesmins

Total Time 1 hourhr

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

• While the eel marinates, prepare the rice. Wash the jasmine rice 2-3 times. Add the rice to the rice cooker, then fill it with water, and turn it on. 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
• While the rice cooks, 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 finished cooking in the rice cooker, top it with the stir-fried eel and any remaining juices. Cover and press the “steam” or “cook” option. Let it steam for 5 minutes.
• Top the rice with dark soy sauce, scallions, and sesame oil. Mix thoroughly. You can simply enjoy this rice as is, or proceed to the next step to get crispy rice. 
  1/4 tsp dark soy sauce, 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• Heat up a pan on medium or medium low heat, and add 2 tbsp of oil. Spread out the rice evenly across the pan. Let it cook with a lid on, undisturbed, for about 8-10 minutes or until evenly golden and crispy on the bottom. Enjoy! 

Video

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

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