Sembawang Claypot Rice – Traditional Taste

Claypot Rice (Medium)

A quick search for the best Traditional Claypot Rice in Singapore, Sembawang Traditional Claypot Rice (‘STCR’) will usually come out in the top three. Located in the “hidden” food street of Sembawang, this restaurant has perfected their original recipes from the 1980s and become a household name in traditional claypot chicken rice in Singapore.  

Sembawang Traditional Claypot Rice

Claypot Rice ($8.80 for S, $13.80 for M, $19.80 for L). There was seven of us, so we initially ordered the large version. It took them about 20 minutes to be served. Nice colourful presentation. The chicken looks well marinated, good portion and chunks of salted fish (the pale colour one).

Claypot Rice (Large)

For those uninitiated with STCR, don’t be surprised if the service staff just serve the claypot rice and leave it to the diners to mix it on their own. If you never do before, here is how Chubby Botak Koala did the mixing. 

1. Take a photo first (you can skip this part) 
2. Take out all the toppings, but gently set aside those precious chunks of salted fish.
3. Generously squeeze a few rounds of their premium dark soy sauce. 
4. Evenly spread the chunks of salted fish and start scraping and folding the rice form outer part to inner part. Remember to use the big metal spoon, not the plastic ones. 
5. Once the brown colour of the sauce evenly coated all the rice, tossed back the rest of the toppings and to one more stirring. 
6. Your claypot rice ready to be eaten. (Take a photo again)

While I was stirring the rice, I can smell the smoky aroma. The chicken is juicy and succulent even for the breast meat, while the rice is al-dente, fragrant and infused with the pungent flavours of salted fish. The Chinese sausage introduced a sweet and chewy texture to the rice, while the bitterness from the vegetable balance the sweetness of the dark soy sauce.

Claypot Rice after Mixing

After the first round of serving, you can start scraping the burnt rice. This crispy section secret behind a delicious traditional claypot rice. This also shows the rice is cooked from scratch. The crispy texture and the slightly burn aroma, mixed with sweet soy sauce is just yummy. Of course, if you can spread a bit of the salted fish on it, it will be even better. We ordered another medium size of the claypot rice as the large one was not enough.

The Sauces

While we are waiting for the claypot rice above, we were served the rest of the dishes that we ordered first.

Jin Do You Tiao ($10.80). Fried you tiao filled with sotong paste. It is crispy, tasty and packs with generous fillings of sotong paste. It is tasty enough to eat on its own or dip with mayonnaise.

Jin Do You Tiao

Da Lu Mian ($9.80 for Large). STCR version of KL Hokkien Mee. The noodle is thick, bouncy and crunchy. The dark sauce is sweet and robust, nicely accompanied the “wok hei” filled dish. The pork lard topping is just so addictive.

Da Lu Mian

Sausage Omelette ($8.80). I decide to order this dish as lap cheong filling is not very common. The omelette is fluffy, not salty. The lap cheong fillings is generous, allowing it to be evenly spread in every part of the Omelette.

Sausage Omelette

Sesame Oil Chicken ($12.80). Served pipping hot, the ginger and spring onion cover most of the top part. The chicken is juicy, succulent and absorbs the fragrant and robust sauce very well. The chicken parts consist of breast and thigh, it will be better if they only use the dark cuts of the chicken, no chicken breast.

Sesame Oil Chicken

San Huang Spinach ($12.80) or known as three-egg spinach. The spinach is covered in silky smooth egg, sparked by the flavours of the broth, salted egg and century egg.

Service is efficient, but not the friendly type. As I mentioned before, you need to mix the claypot rice on your own. This is kind of a minus point for me as each person do it differently, the taste delivered will be inconsistent. The service staff should be the one mixing it for you. Décor is simple, fuss-free.

Overall, the claypot rice here is worth the trip to Sembawang area, even if you travel from Jurong. The rest of zhi char dishes is good, you will have enjoyed the food here. A gem in Sembawang. Cheers!!

Food: 7.5/10

Value: 7.5/10

Service: 6/10

Ambiance: 6.5/10

Budget per Person: $11 - $25

Sembawang Traditional Claypot Rice

4 Jalan Tampang

Singapore 758948

T: +65 6757 7144

F: https://www.facebook.com/sembawangclaypotrice/

IG: @Sbwtraditionalclaypotrice

OH: Daily 11.00 – 22.00