Dragonair's new menu: How to serve claypot rice while airborne
Airline food goes local with milk tea, claypot rice, medicinal herbs and egg tarts
Chicken, abalone and ginkgo nuts over steaming hot rice on board Dragonair.Dragonair has unveiled its new seasonal menu for first and business class passengers on its Beijing and Shanghai routes. The highlights include Hong Kong's winter staple, claypot rice.
Claypot rice is essentially a casserole of white rice with various toppings, traditionally prepared over fiery charcoal. While this method of cooking is not possible onboard Dragonair's flights, the airline has figured out how to mimic the original dish as closely as possible.
Flight attendants have been instructed to reheat the rice bowls covered with a cabbage leaf to preserve moisture in the rice and toppings. The rice on the bottom of the bowl even gets crispy, like an authentic claypot rice dish.
Also on CNNGo: Hong Kong's best claypot rice
The hot bowls of rice are topped with various meats, such as preserved Chinese sausage and spare ribs to warm up Hong Kong passengers in the chilly cabins.
The dish was previously only seasonally available in first class; now business class passengers will also see it on their menus.
Meanwhile, first class passengers will see an upgrade in their claypot rice with deluxe toppings such as American ginseng, goji berries, gingko biloba and cordyceps -- all considered healthful and nourishing ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine.
A seasonal crab roe menu and Cantonese soups will also be offered to first class passengers, while passengers in economy will be offered Hong Kong-style milk tea and egg tarts.
