Cantonese Dry Seafood and Dry Sausage Rice, in cast iron casserole (CNY2019)

I was chopping some dry sausages for making my family’s favourite pot rice and couldn’t stop crying and missing my late grandparents who just passed away last week. Dry sausage is very famous in my grandma’s hometown so we had been given top quality dry sausages for decades. Every time when we went to grandparents’ for dinner, she would put lots of dry sausages on the rice. We wouldn’t eat too much sausage but the rice underneath was particularly tasty. I thought I would be in sorrow for quite a long time in future once I make food with dry sausage.

Usually I would only put in dry sausage or dry meat but it’s the New Year’s feast, I would use some dry seafood as well. Cast iron pot is used in this recipe for a hundred percent success and perfect rice crust.

Serve 8

Ingredients –
Dry sausages, 4, about 180g. I have here liver sausage and the typical pork sausage;
Dry scallop, 3, 20g;
Dry shrimp, 20g, about 3tbsp;
Dry shiitake mushroom, 4, 30g;
Preserved radish, 30g;
Rice, 1 1/2 cups, about 330g;
Spring onion, for garnishing.

How to do –
1. There are a lot of dry ingredients in this recipe so first of all, they should be soaked in water. Rice soaked in water for half an hour, dry shrimps for half an hour. Dry scallop and mushroom need more time but hot water would make the procedure faster, so dry scallop soaked in hot water for half an hour and dry mushroom for one hour. Make sure you KEEP the water that soaked the scallop, I would use it in making the rice;

2. After all ingredients are softened, chop them all in dice. There’s no need to chop the dry scallop, tear them apart would be nice;

3. Now everything is ready. Put the rice in the pot and flat it. Also add in the mushroom, scallop and shrimp. They need a bit more time to release their good flavour. The rice has absorbed some water so no need to add too much water in, the water used for soaking the scallop and water, 1 and a half cup of liquid would be good enough, same portion as the rice. But I’d like to add a little bit more, about 2 cups of liquid, since those seniors in my family would prefer a little softer rice. Lid covered and bring to boil in high heat then turn to medium low heat, steam the rice for 10 minutes;

4. After 10 minutes the rice is set. Layer the dry sausages and preserved radish on top. Lid on and keep steaming for 15 minutes in low heat;

5. Turn off the heat but be patient, don’t serve right away, wait for 15 more minutes. Let the rice steaming in the pot for a bit longer and it would taste much better. Mix well before serving. There should be salty enough but you could season with tiny drops of light soy sauce.