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 instructions in five steps. The critical first step is tucked in parenthesis at the very end: "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.