Chinese Sticky Rice Recipe
This dish is one of the staple dishes I grew up eating. I always thought it would require more effort than I was willing to do. When my sister shared pictures of her cooking, I finally ask her for the recipe. She sent me an ingredients list without measurements and five steps. The critical first step is tucked in parenthesis in the last step: "Set aside and steam sticky rice for 30 min (after washed and soak with water with a little bit of salt overnight)"
I have no experience cooking with sweet rice, and this felt like she gave me a challenge.
Ingredients
- sweet (or glutinous) rice
- Chinese sausages (diced)
- dried shrimp
- shiitake mushrooms (diced)
- yellow onion (diced)
- green onion
- cilantro (optional)
- celery (diced)
- garlic (minced)
- salt
- black pepper
- oyster sauce
- avocado oil
Untensils
- bamboo steamer
- cheese cloth
- large mixing bowl
Cooking Instructions
- Wash sweet rice and soak in water with a pinch of salt overnight
- Soak dried shrimp in 1 cup of water for 30 min
- Stir-fry garlic, yellow onion, shrimp, and shittake mushroom in avocado oil to brown
- Add water used to soak dried shrimp in and let it simmer until you smell dried shrimp aroma
- Add Chinese sausage, celery, and oyster sauce until cooked
- Add salt and black pepper to taste
- Turn off heat and set aside stir-fry
- Line bamboo steam with cheese cloth. Spread washed sweet rice evenly and fold to cover. Steam for 30 min
- Transfer steamed sticky rice to mixing bowl, then add stir-fry, fresh chopped green onions and cilantro. Mix well.
My First Attempt
Ingredients Used
- 3 cups of rice
- 4 links of Chinese sausage
- 1/2 cup of dried shrimp
- 2 celery stalks
- 1.5 tbsp oyster sauce
Take Aways
- I didn't use as much of the shrimp water. Next time, I should use 1 cup and 2 tbsp of oyster sauce to make the stir-fry a bit saucy. I thought my sticky rice came out a little bit on the dry side.
- I googled recipes after and found variations used soy sauce too. Next time try adding soy sauce to stir-fry.
- When transferring sticky rice from the bamboo steamer to the mixing bowl, I should leave the bamboo steamer on top of the boiling pan and use the cheesecloth and steam to roll the sticky rice into a large ball for transfer.