Jonathan Gold Waxes Poetic About Crusty Rice at Nature Pagoda | Eater LA

"Out in the San Gabriel Valley I discovered a modest Hong Kong clay-pot rice specialist called Nature Pagoda, specializing in Chinese herbal soups and Cantonese clay pot rice and tucked among San Gabriel’s marble-encrusted Chinese malls. The Cantonese hot-pot-style clay pot here demands perfectly timed sauce pouring and mixing: if you pour and mix quickly and patiently you’ll be rewarded with a tawny, crunchy crust at the bottom, but pause to snap photos, spoon chile oil over the top first, or stir in bits of ham, braised choy sum, or catfish before adding the sauce and there will probably be no crust. I call particular attention to the clay pots made with fresh frog, chicken with lily flower, and preserved meat, and I also recommend the four mixed herbs with black chicken soup and the wei kei rabbit soup." - Crystal Coser