April 23, 2012

Nom Nom Nom

I adore the soft, chewy texture of dishes that are made with glutinous rice (糯米), and one of my favourite dishes is stir-fried glutinous rice (生炒糯米飯).  My grandma taught me how to cook this dish at T&T several years ago.  To be more specific, I was buying groceries at T&T one day, and had a sudden craving for homemade stir-fried sticky rice.  My parents were on vacation, so I decided to call the person who taught my mom how to make this dish, my grandma in Hong Kong.  Though separated by distance and time, my grandma passed on her recipe to me, and I still think of her everytime I make this dish.  

The technique for making stir-fried glutinous rice is similar to making risotto.  Neither dish is difficult to make, but both require time and patience.  Both dishes involve first sautéing short-grain rice briefly with aromatics, and then cooking the rice slowly by gradually stirring in flavoured liquid to the rice.  In making stir-fried glutinous rice, the flavoured liquid that I use is simply the water that was used to soak the dried scallops and dried shrimp.  Unlike risotto, the texture of stir-fried glutinous rice is more sticky than creamy, but it is equally as delectable and satisfying as its Italian counterpart.


Ingredients  (serves 4-6 people) 
1-2 dried scallops (乾瑤柱), soak in water overnight 
1/2 cup medium or large dried shrimp (蝦米), soak in water overnight
10-12 dried shitake mushrooms, soak in water overnight
4 cured Chinese sausages
1-1/3 cups glutinous rice (or 2 cups, if you are using the rice measuring cups), rinse and drain
Lee Kum Kee seasoned soy sauce for seafood (李錦記豉油)
1-2 scallions, finely chopped 
Water
Oil
 

1)  Drain the dried scallops and reserve the soaking liquid.  Using your fingers, separate the scallops into strands and set aside.
2)  Drain the dried shrimp and reserve the soaking liquid.  Chop the shrimp finely and set aside.
3)  Drain the shitake mushrooms and discard the soaking liquid.  Rinse under tap water to clean and squeeze out any excess water.  Cut and discard the mushroom stems, dice the mushroom caps, and set aside.
4)  Dice the cured Chinese sausages, and set aside.     
5) Heat a bit of oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat.  Stir-fry dried scallop and dried shrimp for about 1 minute until it is fragrant.  Add glutinous rice and stir-fry for about 1-2 minutes.
6) Add 1 cup of reserved soaking liquid to the rice, and stir-fry occassionally until water is fully absorbed by the rice.
7) Add another cup of the reserved soaking liquid to the rice, and stir-fry occassionally until the liquid is fully absorbed by the rice.
8) Add shitake mushrooms and cured Chinese sausage, and stir-fry rice for about 1 minute.  Add another cup of the reserved soaking liquid to the rice, and stir-fry occassionally until the liquid is fully absorbed by the rice. 
9)  Keep adding the reserved soaking liquid (or water, once you use up all the soaking liquid), one cup at a time and stir-frying until the liquid is fully absorbed by the rice before adding the next cup of liquid.  Over time, the rice will start becoming translucent around the edges of each granule.  The rice is cooked when it is fully translucent.  You can also taste test as you go along to check for doneness - make sure that the rice is completely soft and chewy throughout the granule, and not hard in the middle.  Be careful not to add too much liquid, or the rice will become soggy.
10) Add the scallions and soy sauce for taste, and stir-fry the rice to incorporate both ingredients. 



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