Actually, clay pots are in use as a cooking utensil in a wide variety of countries around the world. The practice is ancient.You’ll find clay pot recipes in the cuisines of a number of European countries and also in Africa and Latin America.
In Chinese, the pot used for such cooking is generally known as shaguo or “sand plot,” or baozi, a Cantonese word for “little pot.” Clay pot dishes are sometimes labeled as hot pot dishes on English menus of Chinese restaurants.
Among the true sand pot dishes, a famous one is yu tou sha guo “fish head sand pot” which uses fish heads in a soupy broth.Hainan style chicken rice and a chicken dish with bitter melon are other famous dishes made made with this kind of pot.
In Japanese cooking the clay pot used for cooking is called a donabe or “earthen pot.” Donabe is just that, a lidded earthenware pot, which is normally used over a low flame for slow cooking.
This kind of pot is not submerged in water. Donabe represent a whole category of Japanese cooking and are covered in a separate article of their own.
In Indian cooking, a traditional clay cooking pot is called a chatti and commonly used in the South to cook spicy hot fish curries. A similar pot is also used in North India, in the Punjab for slow cooking of black lentils and mustard leaf. In Sri Lanka clay pots are used to cook some fish, meat, rice and other dishes.
In Southeast Asia clay pot cooking may have reached its peak of popularity of dishes cooked with this piece of equipment.
In the Philippines, the traditional clay pot used for cooking is called a palayak.
In Vietnam, clay pots are used to stew or braise a wide range of foods. It is probably in Southeast Asia and parts of southern China that the clay pot has reached its highest and widest use. Some examples of clay pots in Vietnamese cooking include Pork Clay Pot and Prawn Clay Pot.
To use a clay pot for the first time, the pot has to be cured first. A standard way of doing this is to put the leftover water from rice cooking into a new pot and leaving it overnight. The process is repeated for a week and helps cure and strengthen the pot and make it ready for use.
Another method of curing a clay pot is to submerge an unglazed pot for 15 to20 minutes to absorb water before cooking. The water is then discarded., filled with the food to be used and placed in the oven or over a low fire.
As the clay pot dish is cooked, the moisture in the pot is released as steam with the result that the ingredients being cooked are slowly braised in hot liquid and steam. This works to intensify the flavors.
The metallic rings on clay pots help to support the pot structurally and also aid in diffusing heat.
A typical recipe for this type of cooking would be Pork Clay Pot.
 “Clay pot cooking,” article, Wikipedia, for details about the history and background of the cooking technique.
5] Asian clay pot recipes.
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