I remembered years ago I had ever tried a claypot rice at a food court in Bugis that was probably cooked in another pot, transferred into a small claypot and then served. My first instinct when I first sat down with that claypot was to dig right to the bottom to hunt for the best part but to my dismay (and to my horror), I felt completely cheated as there were no (or only slightly) burnt bits. Ultra disappointing. But anyway it was a food court so what could I expect.

In the next few years, I went on a hunt for an authentic flavoured claypot rice and I was lucky enough to find this gem tucked away in a corner of Ang Mo Kio Central (Ave 6 to be precise).

Slow cooked over fire and served piping hot and steaming. The smoky aroma immediately penetrated our nostrils the moment the claypot was set in front of us. It was a joy to use the metal ladle spoon to mix the rice and the ingredients. The rice wasn’t too dry or lumpy so you could taste the individual rice kernels. The chicken and lup cheong (chinese sausage) bits were fat and juicy and certain gave an additional fragrance to the rice. Sprinkling of a few tiny pieces of salted fish gave it a bit more kick.

The best part of a claypot rice would have to be the burnt part at the bottom which was nice and crunchy. We were so addicted to it that we had to keep scratching out the burnt bottom. Definitely not for the carcinogen-phobic! Anyway, we didn’t really care!