Loh mai fan / Steamed sticky rice with Chinese sausage

Loh mai fan , Cantonese name for steamed sticky rice , is basically made by steaming soaked sticky rice , Chinese sausages , dried mushrooms and shrimps together . During winter , you can see some roadside shops and Chinese restaurants here in Hongkong selling or serving this kind of seasonal fare . And no , you can't find this in the menu if you go yum cha during summer . Why ? Because you can't find Chinese sausages during summer as this kind of preserved food is only available during winter  . 

Unlike most sticky rice recipes you'll find online , the one I have here is easier to make - the soaked rice is stir fried first then steamed until cooked . You don't have to add any oil when stir frying as the Chinese sausage is fatty enough . Just a small amount of water is added to the rice before steaming so the texture is never mushy . The original recipe though is steamed all the way through .

This is my 2nd attempt , the first one tastes fine but the texture of the sticky rice is a bit chewy for my taste , I think steaming it for only 15 minutes just don't cut it , some grains were not even cooked through !  So , this time I tweaked it a bit , add more water when I stir fried it and steamed it longer as well . The result is beautifully-textured sticky rice not oily at all  and very easy to make .

I made half of the recipe and used a 7-inch bamboo steamer . If you don't have it , you can use an 8-inch heatproof shallow bowl instead and adjust the cooking time . Dried scallops are a bit expensive and I don't have it on hand so I omitted it and used 2 kind of Chinese sausages ( lap cheong - made from pork meat and pork fat and yun cheong which is made from duck's liver and pork fat )   to compensate for it . The original instructions below are a bit fussy so I cooked mine this way - I stir fried all the ingredients together , added 60 grams water so as 1 1/2 tablespoons of sweet soy sauce before steaming . I steamed it over high heat for 20 minutes then lower to medium and cooked for another 40 minutes .

The first time I made it , I served it with salted fried peanuts , it adds a delicious texture and flavor to this dish . Can't find fried peanuts this time though , I don't know where they hid the fried nuts in this side of Hongkong .....

Recipe adapted from 必學的中西節日美食 = Festive delicacies / [黎楊惠玲作]. 黎楊惠玲

My modifications in blue

500 grams glutinous rice
50 grams dried shrimps
40 grams dried scallops , don't have it
6 dried mushrooms
2 Chinese sausages

1 stalk spring onion , chopped
1 stalk coriander , chopped
some sweet soy sauce

Seasoning for rice :

1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1-2 tablespoons *sauce from steaming dried scallops

For half of the recipe , I used 250 grams glutinous rice ( duh ) , 20 grams dried shrimps , 3 dried mushrooms , 2 Chinese sausages , 1 1/2 tablespoons sweet soy sauce , pinch of sea salt , 1 teaspoon raw sugar and 60 grams/ml water 

* Rinse and soak glutinous rice in water for 4 to 6 hours . Drain well .

* Steam Chinese sausages over high heat for 5 minutes  , cool down a bit then cut into small dices .

* Soak dried mushrooms and shrimp until soft , rinse and slice the mushrooms , set aside .

* Rinse and soak dried scallops in 150 ml hot water until soft . Steam with the soaking water for 5 to 10 minutes . Flake scallops into shreds and mix 1-2 tablespoons of the *scallop liquid with the seasoning for rice  .

* In a nonstick pan , pan-fry ( no need to add oil ) sausages , shrimps and mushrooms over medium high heat for about 3 minutes . Add in the salt , sugar , sweet soy sauce and water and mix until all the liquid is absorbed , about 2 minutes . 

* Place seasoned glutinous rice in a bamboo steamer lined with baking paper pricked with holes or you can use a piece of muslin or a cheese cloth .

* Transfer the rice/sausage mixture to the bamboo steamer and steam over high heat for 20 minutes .  Use a spoon and stir the rice , scraping from the bottom and sides ( be careful not to tear the parchment paper that lined the steamer ) then lower the heat to medium high and steam for another 40 minutes or until glutinous rice is cooked . Serve hot . 

* Steamed over high heat for 5 minutes . Put mushrooms and shrimps on top of the rice , continue to steam for 5 minutes before adding scallops and sausages . Steamed for further 5 minutes over medium heat . Turn off heat and keep covered for 10 more minutes .

* Drizzle some sweet soy sauce and mix until well combined . Sprinkle with some chopped spring onion and coriander . Serve hot .