Cherry & Dennis Helper Habitat
Hong Kong Baked Seafood Rice with White Sauce
港式白汁焗海鮮飯
Recipe overview
Fried rice and briefly cooked seafood bake beneath a lump-free white sauce and an even golden cheddar top.
01
Ingredients
Main ingredients
- 4 bowl cooked rice
- 250 g prawn
- 200 g fresh squid
- 100 g Thawed green peas
- 500 ml milk
- 50 g butter
- 40 g all-purpose flour
- 100 g Cheddar cheese
- 1 piece onion
- 1 tsp salt
02
Tools
- knife
- cutting board
- mixing bowl
- frying pan
- saucepan
- baking dish
- oven
- spatula
- wooden spoon
- whisk
- colander
- measuring cup
- measuring spoons
- oven mitts
03
Steps
Step 1
Heat the oven to 200C
Preheat the oven to 200°C and wait until the temperature is stable before baking.
Step 2
Dice the onion
Peel the onion and cut it into roughly 1 cm dice so it softens evenly in the rice.
Step 3
Pat the seafood dry
Rinse the prawns and squid briefly, drain for 1 minute, then blot every piece dry so the rice base will not turn watery.
Step 4
Stir-fry rice with onion and peas
Stir-fry the cooked rice, peas and diced onion over medium-high heat for 4 minutes, breaking up clumps until the rice is hot and the onion softens.
Step 5
Spread the fried rice in a baking dish
Spoon the fried rice into the baking dish and level it without packing it down.
Step 6
Cook the prawns and squid briefly
In the same pan, cook the prawns and squid for 3 minutes over medium-high heat, stopping when the prawns turn pink and the squid edges curl.
Step 7
Cook a pale butter-and-flour roux
Melt all 50 g butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in all 40 g plain flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until foamy and pale with no raw flour smell.
Step 8
Whisk in the milk and cook the white sauce
Add all 500 ml milk to the roux in four additions, whisking smooth after each. Simmer over medium-low heat for 5 minutes, stirring the corners, until the sauce coats a spoon without lumps.
Step 9
Season the white sauce
Stir the salt into the white sauce, taste, and stop there if it is balanced because the cheddar will add more saltiness.
Step 10
Arrange the seafood over the fried rice
Spread the briefly cooked prawns and squid, including their juices, evenly over the rice in the baking dish; do not bury them in one corner.
Step 11
Cover with white sauce and cheddar
Pour all hot white sauce over the seafood and rice, spreading it to every edge. Scatter all 100 g grated cheddar evenly on top without stirring it into the sauce.
Step 12
Bake until the top is golden
Bake uncovered at 200°C for 15 minutes, until the white sauce bubbles around the edges and the cheddar has an even golden surface.
Common mistakes
- Adding all the milk at once produces flour lumps.
- Fully cooking seafood before baking makes prawns tough and squid rubbery.
Tips
Whisk each milk addition completely smooth before adding more.
Spread sauce to the corners so exposed rice does not dry out.
