Winter Comfort Food

Ever since the pandemic was declared more than 2 years ago, everything has taken a turn for the worse. But for the better, we’ve all learned a new skill or two during this pandemic. For me and my family, food is particularly important. We all know the feeling of  “hangry” and food always makes us happy and satisfied. I’m proud to say that I’ve experimented and challenged more recipes than I ever have and I have gained more confidence in doing it myself.

Lately I’ve tackled a recipe that I wouldn’t even think I would be able to manage due to the time consuming and labor intensive cooking method it involved; and that is Chinese classic comfort food, Chinese Sticky Rice 糯米飯. It is also a staple dim sum item which we also missed going to, hence the courage to take on this recipe. 

After comparing and finding the right tutorial video and repeatedly watching it numerous times, I’ve prepared myself for the arm workout. The traditional way of making this dish is by taking uncooked sticky rice that has been soaked for hours (also a must), and stir-frying it until cooked, which can take from 20-30mins of cooking time. There is a cheat to shorten the cooking process by cooking it in the rice cooker but the moisture and chewiness of the rice grain is just not the same. 

My Take on Chinese Sticky Rice:
Recipe Instructions

Ingredients

• 2 cups uncooked glutinous rice (soaked for 3 hours or overnight in water)
• 2 tablespoon sweet soy sauce
• ½ cup chicken stock
• 1 tablespoons oil
• ¼ cup dried shrimp (soaked for 15 minutes in warm water)
• ¼ cup dried scallop (soaked for 15 minutes in warm water)
• 3 dried shiitake mushrooms (soaked in warm water until softened and diced)
• 1 links Chinese sausage 臘腸 (cut into small discs)
• 1 Chinese Cured Pork Belly 腊肉 (cut into small cubes)
• 1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine
• white pepper (to taste)
• 2 scallions (chopped)
• roasted peanuts (optional)
• julienned egg crepe (optional)

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. Add Chinese sausage and cured pork belly and stir-fry until all the fat is released from the meat. Add the mushroom, dried shrimp and scallop to absorb all the fat. Add the Shaoxing wine and stir-fry for another 2 minutes. Remove from pan. 
2. With leftover grease in the pan, add the uncooked glutinous rice and your arm workout begins. On medium high heat, stir the uncooked rice, from bottom to top throughout, add a few tablespoons of chicken stock at a time. Once you feel the rice is dry, add more chicken stock and stir until the rice is almost cooked. 
3. Add all the ingredients back into the pan and stir. 
4. Add the sweet soy sauce and stir-fry until the rice is uniform in color.
5. Garnish with scallions, roasted peanuts and julienned egg crepe.

Instructions adapted from thewoksoflife.com

The Verdict

I mean my arm got real tired after just ten minutes of constantly stir-frying. For the amount of labor, it was worth it! A few family and friends have tried it and the feedback were all positive. Definitely will save this recipe for special occasions.