Steamed Glutinous Rice (Lo Mai Gai)

As I had some glutinous rice leftover from the previous recipe so i found a way to use the remaining rice plus a bit more. I had remembered my mom making something similar, i will need to ask for her recipe as a comparison.

Recipe from https://www.rotinrice.com/lo-mai-gai-steamed-glutinous-rice-chicken/

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour 15 minutes (plus 4-24 hours to soak the glutinous rice)

Serving: 8

Ingredients:

  • 8 oz (225g) skinless boneless chicken thighs or chicken breast, thinly sliced

  • 1 tbsp shaoxing cooking wine 

  • 1 tbsp soy sauce 

  • 1 inch ginger, peeled (20g)

  • 2 lap chong / Chinese sausage

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

  • 6 chinese mushrooms/ shiitake, soaked and cut into thin strips

  • 1 tsp Dark soy sauce

  • 1 tsp corn starch mixed with 1/2 cup (120ml) water

For the glutinous rice:

  • 2.5 cups (500g) glutinous rice, soaked for at least 4 hours or overnight

  • 2 tbsp soy sauce 

  • 1 tbsp dark soy sauce

  • 1 tsp salt

  • 1/2 tsp Ground pepper 

  • 1/2 tsp five spice powder

  • 1/2 cup (120ml) water 

  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil

  • 1 tbsp sesame oil

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

Method:

marinate chicken: Combine chicken, Shao Hsing wine, and soy sauce in a bowl. Grate ginger over chicken. Mix well and allow it to marinade for 30 minutes.

Prepare chinese sausage: Soak lap cheong in a pan of hot water for about 10 minutes. Casings should puff up. Remove casings and slice lap cheong at a diagonal.

Prepare GLUTINOUS rice: Prepare a steamer and allow water to come to a boil. Drain glutinous rice. Place in a deep bowl. Add soy sauce, dark soy sauce, salt, pepper, five spice powder, and water. Mix well. Combine vegetable oil, sesame oil, and minced garlic in a small microwave proof dish and microwave for 1½ minutes on high. Remove and pour over the rice. Place rice in steamer, cover with lid, and steam for 30 minutes.

Cook toppings: In the meantime, fry prepared lap cheong until lightly brown in a medium size pot, about 2 minutes. There is no need to use any oil. Remove fried lap cheong, leaving the oil in the pot. Set aside. In the same pot, sauté minced garlic until fragrant. Add marinated chicken and mushrooms. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in dark soy sauce. Pour in corn starch mixture and allow it to cook for 2 minutes. Sauce should come to a boil and thicken. Turn off the stove.

Prepare 8 ramekins or small rice bowls. Place a few slices of fried lap cheong, mushroom, and chicken neatly at the base of the bowl. Fill to the top with cooked glutinous rice. Spoon 1 tablespoon of chicken gravy over each bowl of rice. Place the bowls in the steamer, cover with lid and steam for 30 minutes.

Invert lo mai gai onto small plates. Serve immediately.

i actually really like this dish but i never knew how it was made and now i do. it isn’t a quick meal to make as you need to steam the rice twice, each for about 30 minutes. but it is worth the wait. it depends on the type of bowls you have but i would have made a bit more rice. i felt that the ratio between meat to rice was a bit high and i didn’t have additional rice to fill up the bowls. so maybe next time less meat and mushrooms and more rice. also the more you steam the rice, the sticker it becomes. we didn’t eat the bowls the first time so we resteamed them the next day and it was much stickier than the day before. So you can even prep these beforehand when you have time. for the topping you can always use other ingredients but these are the most traditional ones, in addition i served it with some stir fried green vegetables to balance the meal.

it is a very delicious dish and actually quite easy to make, but it is very time consuming. some things can be done in parallel but you do have to wait for the rice to steam. so if you have the time and patience then definitely make this dish otherwise head to a chinese or cantonese restaurant to have it. i know appreciate this dish more knowing how much time and effort goes into it.

cooking, chineseJackie Wongglutinous rice, sticky rice, lo mai gai, steamed, chinese sausage, lap cheongComment