Clay pot cooking
Encyclopedia
Clay pot cooking is a technique
of cooking
food
in an unglazed clay pot which has been soaked in water
so as to release steam
during the cooking process. This technique has a long history, stretching back at least to ancient Roman
times, and is commonly used in several cuisines in Africa, Europe and Southeast and East Asia.
. The walls of the pot help to diffuse the heat
, and as the pot warms it releases the water as steam.
The food inside the clay pot loses little of its moisture
because it is surrounded by steam, creating a tender, flavorful dish
. The evaporation of the water prevents burning so long as the pot is not allowed to heat until it is completely dry. Because no oil needs to be added with this cooking technique, food cooked in a clay pot may be lower in fat compared with food prepared by other methods such as sautéing
or frying
. And unlike boiling
, nutrients are not leached out into the water.
Because of the heat lost to the evaporation
of water, clay pot cooking requires lower oven temperature and longer cooking times than traditional roasting
with dry heat. Clay pots may be cleaned by scrubbing them with salt; soap
s or detergent
s should not be used, because the clay may absorb them.
dishes that are served in a large metal bowl and cooked at the table. In Taiwan, the chicken dish sanbeiji is prepared in a clay pot.
, although it is not submerged in water.
is cooked in a clay pot. The pot is most often called nồi đất in Vietnamese, although, depending on its size and use, it may also be called nồi kho cá, nồi kho thịt, nồi kho tiêu, or nồi kho tộ.
.
. Interestingly, this word is also used in Punjab, in Northern India, where traditionally the black lentil (dal makhani) and mustard leaf (saag) is cooked on slow fire for hours.
There is another type of Chatti, called "Kal" Chatti, which means a pot made of stone. In this case it is a kind of chalkstone where the pot is carved out compared to the clay pot where clay is molded and baked. Typically Kal Chatti is used for making South Indian dishes like "Vetta Kozhambhu", "Kirai Masayil" etc.
In Germany, the clay roaster used to cook with is called a Römertopf (literally "Roman pot"). Since its introduction in 1967, it has influenced cooking traditions in Germany and neighbouring European countries. The pot is mainly used to cook meat like pork roast, chicken or stew in an oven.
Chinese cooking techniques
Chinese cooking techniques are a set of methods and techniques traditionally used in Chinese cuisine. The cooking techniques can either be grouped into ones that use a single cooking method or a combination of wet and dry cooking methods.-Wet:...
of cooking
Cooking
Cooking is the process of preparing food by use of heat. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely across the world, reflecting unique environmental, economic, and cultural traditions. Cooks themselves also vary widely in skill and training...
food
Food
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
in an unglazed clay pot which has been soaked in water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
so as to release steam
Steam
Steam is the technical term for water vapor, the gaseous phase of water, which is formed when water boils. In common language it is often used to refer to the visible mist of water droplets formed as this water vapor condenses in the presence of cooler air...
during the cooking process. This technique has a long history, stretching back at least to ancient Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
times, and is commonly used in several cuisines in Africa, Europe and Southeast and East Asia.
Cooking techniques
Typically, an unglazed clay pot is submerged for 15 to 30 minutes to absorb water before cooking, then filled with the food and placed into an ovenOven
An oven is a thermally insulated chamber used for the heating, baking or drying of a substance. It is most commonly used for cooking. Kilns, and furnaces are special-purpose ovens...
. The walls of the pot help to diffuse the heat
Heat
In physics and thermodynamics, heat is energy transferred from one body, region, or thermodynamic system to another due to thermal contact or thermal radiation when the systems are at different temperatures. It is often described as one of the fundamental processes of energy transfer between...
, and as the pot warms it releases the water as steam.
The food inside the clay pot loses little of its moisture
Moisture
Humidity is the amount of moisture the air can hold before it rains. Moisture refers to the presence of a liquid, especially water, often in trace amounts...
because it is surrounded by steam, creating a tender, flavorful dish
Recipe
A recipe is a set of instructions that describe how to prepare or make something, especially a culinary dish.-Components:Modern culinary recipes normally consist of several components*The name of the dish...
. The evaporation of the water prevents burning so long as the pot is not allowed to heat until it is completely dry. Because no oil needs to be added with this cooking technique, food cooked in a clay pot may be lower in fat compared with food prepared by other methods such as sautéing
Sautéing
Sautéing is a method of cooking food, that uses a small amount of fat in a shallow pan over relatively high heat. Ingredients are usually cut into pieces or thinly sliced to facilitate fast cooking. The primary mode of heat transfer during sautéing is conduction between the pan and the food being...
or frying
Frying
Frying is the cooking of food in oil or another fat, a technique that originated in ancient Egypt around 2500 BC. Chemically, oils and fats are the same, differing only in melting point, but the distinction is only made when needed. In commerce, many fats are called oils by custom, e.g...
. And unlike boiling
Boiling
Boiling is the rapid vaporization of a liquid, which occurs when a liquid is heated to its boiling point, the temperature at which the vapor pressure of the liquid is equal to the pressure exerted on the liquid by the surrounding environmental pressure. While below the boiling point a liquid...
, nutrients are not leached out into the water.
Because of the heat lost to the evaporation
Evaporation
Evaporation is a type of vaporization of a liquid that occurs only on the surface of a liquid. The other type of vaporization is boiling, which, instead, occurs on the entire mass of the liquid....
of water, clay pot cooking requires lower oven temperature and longer cooking times than traditional roasting
Roasting
Roasting is a cooking method that uses dry heat, whether an open flame, oven, or other heat source. Roasting usually causes caramelization or Maillard browning of the surface of the food, which is considered by some as a flavor enhancement. Roasting uses more indirect, diffused heat , and is...
with dry heat. Clay pots may be cleaned by scrubbing them with salt; soap
Soap
In chemistry, soap is a salt of a fatty acid.IUPAC. "" Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. . Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford . XML on-line corrected version: created by M. Nic, J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN...
s or detergent
Detergent
A detergent is a surfactant or a mixture of surfactants with "cleaning properties in dilute solutions." In common usage, "detergent" refers to alkylbenzenesulfonates, a family of compounds that are similar to soap but are less affected by hard water...
s should not be used, because the clay may absorb them.
Ethiopia
In ancient Ethiopia, all cooking was done with hand made clay pots made for different types of food. Today in most rural areas and in some urban homes, cooking is done with traditional clay pots because of the high price of regular metal pots. Some urban homes however use traditional clay pots believing that the food tastes better if cooked with a clay pot than a metal pot.Chinese
In Chinese, the pot used for such cooking is generally known as 砂鍋 (pinyin: shāguo) or 煲仔 (pinyin: bàozai), a Cantonese word for little pot. Clay pot dishes are sometimes labeled as "hot pot" or "hotpot" dishes on the menus of Chinese restaurants in English-speaking areas of the world.http://www.maplepalace.com/dinner_hotpot.html, but it should not be confused with hot potHot pot
Hot pot , less commonly Chinese fondue or steamboat, refers to several East Asian varieties of stew, consisting of a simmering metal pot of stock at the center of the dining table. While the hot pot is kept simmering, ingredients are placed into the pot and are cooked at the table...
dishes that are served in a large metal bowl and cooked at the table. In Taiwan, the chicken dish sanbeiji is prepared in a clay pot.
Japan
In Japan, the clay pot used for cooking is called a donabeDonabe
Donabe are pots made out of a special clay for use over an open flame in the Japanese kitchen. Often, the food is cooked right at the table on a gas burner for various nabemono dishes such as shabu-shabu....
, although it is not submerged in water.
Vietnam
In Vietnam, the stew-like dish called khoKho
Kho is a cooking technique in Vietnamese cuisine in which a protein source such as fish, shrimp, poultry, pork, beef, or fried tofu is braised on low heat in a mixture of fish sauce, sugar, and water or a water substitute such as young coconut juice...
is cooked in a clay pot. The pot is most often called nồi đất in Vietnamese, although, depending on its size and use, it may also be called nồi kho cá, nồi kho thịt, nồi kho tiêu, or nồi kho tộ.
Philippines
In the Philippines, the traditional clay pot used for cooking is the palayokPalayok
A palayok is a clay pot used as the traditional food preparation container in the Philippines. Palayok is a Tagalog word; in other parts of the country, especially in the Visayas, it is called a kulon; smaller-sized pots are referred to as anglit.-Cooking in a palayok:The palayok is made of...
.
India
In the southern states of Tamilnadu and Kerala in India , the traditional clay pot used for cooking is called Chatti. This is usually used in the villages by the working classes especially for cooking heavily spiced ,hot fish curryCurry
Curry is a generic description used throughout Western culture to describe a variety of dishes from Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Thai or other Southeast Asian cuisines...
. Interestingly, this word is also used in Punjab, in Northern India, where traditionally the black lentil (dal makhani) and mustard leaf (saag) is cooked on slow fire for hours.
There is another type of Chatti, called "Kal" Chatti, which means a pot made of stone. In this case it is a kind of chalkstone where the pot is carved out compared to the clay pot where clay is molded and baked. Typically Kal Chatti is used for making South Indian dishes like "Vetta Kozhambhu", "Kirai Masayil" etc.
Sri Lanka
People in Sri Lanka use clay pot to make a special food called 'Pahi', (Little Jackfruit) fish curry, called ‘abul thiyal’ and some meat and specially rice and some chutney called accharu. Usually clay pots are used for making fresh water fish called’ Lula, Hunga, Magura and Kawaiya’. For more than 2000 years Sri Lankan used clay pots and now both modern and village people use the clay pot because they think the foods are more tasty and healthy.Germany
See also
- Claypot chicken riceClaypot chicken riceClaypot chicken rice is usually a dinner dish in the southern regions of China, Singapore and Malaysia. It is typically served with Chinese sausage and vegetables. More often than not, the rice is cooked in the claypot first and cooked ingredients like diced chicken and Chinese sausage are added...
- Little pan rice
- SteamingSteamingSteaming is a method of cooking using steam. Steaming is considered a healthy cooking technique and capable of cooking almost all kinds of food.-Method:...
- Tagine
External links
- Clay Pot Cooking Overview How to use and care for a clay pot with clay pot recipes
- Romertopf - Nature's Oven The Romertopf Originated in Germany and Combines Specific Porous Clays in a Secret Ratio
- Romertopf Clay Bakers How to Choose the Proper Size Romertopf Clay Baker
- Claypot Chicken With Bitter Gourd Traditional Chinese recipe
- http://homepages.uel.ac.uk/d.p.humber/hethiop.htm Ethiopian Cooking