Ah Ching Claypot Delights – Former Head Chef of Geylang Claypot Rice Opens a Stall in Sin Ming

Ah Ching is back in action! Loyal fans of Ah Ching will know that this former head chef of Geylang Claypot Rice has struck out on his own. I have been a regular since his days at East Village. And now, he has left and opened his own stall in Sin Ming.

The cooking of claypot rice is a slow process that requires a lot of patience, especially when the rice grains are cooked from scratch. Ah Ching uses old grains which he will soak and dry manually in the kitchen. The rice is cooked over hot coals for at least 20 minutes.

The hardest part of charcoal cooking is heat control. He has to control the temperature of the fire by manually tilting the claypot in different angles so that the rice at the bottom gets evenly cooked. No peeping is allowed, because once he opens the lid, the temperature in the claypot will drop and that will affect the texture and cooking process. The rice at the bottom of the claypot doesn’t turn black and instead, a glorious toasty brown. I wished he had cooked my claypot rice slightly longer to give the entire dish that characteristic smoky flavour though, but Ah Ching was probably too excited to meet us.

The ingredients that make up the claypot look ordinary enough — rice, chicken, Chinese sausages and salted fish. But behind the simplicity of these ingredients is a world of practice and preparation. The chicken thigh meat is well marinated and super tender and flavourful. Ah Ching presses the salted fish and minced chicken against the pot of rice, mixes it well, and adds the savoury soy sauce in. You can pair your claypot rice with sambal chilli.

His claypot rice comes in two sizes – $8 for the small one, $20 for the large one (good for 3 pax). We shared a small claypot rice and I must say he is very generous with the ingredients. I don’t think I can finish it on my own.

They also offer a host of side dishes such as Claypot Chicken in Sesame Oil ($8), Claypot Wine Chicken Soup ($10), Ginger Duck ($8), Handmade Prawn Roll ($4) and more. I enjoyed the Claypot Wine Chicken Soup. The soup was rich, with a good balance of sweetness and savouriness. I will be back to try other dishes!

MissTamChiak.com paid its own meal at the stall featured here. This is NOT an advertorial.

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