Stir-Fried Glutinous Rice (Loh Mai Faan)

Inspired by our recent trip to Asia, I resolved to spend 2012 mastering the art of Chinese cooking and Asian-inspired desserts. And what better way to do that than with Eileen Lo's Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking and for the sweeter side of things, Pichet Ong's The Sweet Spot (he has a recipe for homemade Pocky Sticks!) While my mom is a great cook and there is definitely lots to be learned from her kitchen, "a dash of this and a handful of that Asian-ingredient-that-I-can't-seem-to-find the-English-equivalent-of" doesn't really work for me. Also, she makes a lot more home-y dishes and I am looking to master some of my dim sum and restaurant favorites. So I'm taking the book route first to master the basics, making the connection between Chinese and American ingredients and understanding all the techniques.

My first attempt was a personal favorite, one that I love to order at dim sum and Chinese restaurants: Stir-fried Glutinous Rice (Chinese for Saan Chau Loh Mai Faan). The dish starts with rinsed and drained glutinous rice that is pan-fried and then cooked like an Italian risotto over the stove top. Chicken broth is slowly added in small amounts, allowing the rice to absorb the liquid completely before more is added in. Then chopped shitakes, dried scallops and shrimp and Chinese sausage are tossed in with dark and sweet soy sauce before finishing with some julienned egg and fresh green onions.



I made some substitutions, based on what I had on hand. I added dried scallops, shitake mushrooms and fried egg for extra umami and omitted chopped coriander and Chinese bacon. I've never had fresh coriander before - only dried as a spice. I will definitely need to incorporate it next time into the rice.

Stir-fried Glutinous Rice
adapted from Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking

Ingredients:
2 cups glutinous rice
2 quarts boiling water
3 tablespoons oil
1-2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup diced Chinese Sausage (Lap Cheurng)
1 cup diced bacon (I replaced this with extra sausage) 
1/4 cup dried shrimp, soaked in hot water for 20 minutes, drained and cut into small pieces 
4-5 pieces of dried scallop (add to dried shrimp to soak)
6 dried shitakes, reconstituted in boiling water for 20 minutes
1 egg
2 tsp water
1/3 cup sliced green onions or scallions

Seasoning:
2 tablespoons double dark soy sauce (I didn't have this on hand so I used a combination of sweet soy sauce, light soy sauce and oyster sauce)
Salt to taste

Directions:
Place the rice in a large bowl. Ladle the boiling water over it until all the water has been added. Drain the rice in a strainer, then spread it in a thin layer around the bowl of the strainer, leaving a small hole uncovered at the bottom to allow any water to run off. Place the strainer over a bowl and let the rice drain for 30-45 minutes.

Heat a wok over high heat for 45 seconds. Add the oil and coat the pan with the oil. When a wisp of white smoke appears, add the rice, mix well, and stir and cook for 1 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of the stock and stir to mix well. Reduce the heat to low, cover the work, and allow the rice to cook for 1 minute or until the stock is absorbed. Stir-fry the rice for 45 seconds. Add 1/4 cup of stock, stir to mix, cover the wok again and cook for 1 minute. Watch carefully and adjust heat as necessary to prevent burning.

Uncover the wok, add the remaining stock and stir to mix well. Repeat this process until the rice is cooked through, al dente. I didn't have a big enough lid on hand so I left the rice to cook in the broth uncovered. As a result, I had to add more stock than expected in order to cook the rice through.



The rice will be moist but no liquid should be present. Add the sausage, bacon, shitake mushrooms, shrimp and scallops and stir-fry vigorously to mix all the ingredients. Raise the heat and stir fry for 7 minutes or until the bacon and sausage are translucent. Add the sauces and stir-fry an additional 3-4 minutes to coat each rice grain. Stir in the scallions and coriander and continue to stir fry for a couple more minutes.

In a separate pan, fry up some thin layers of egg. Thinly slice and add it to the rice. Serve warm.



I was thoroughyly surprised on how well it turned out. Just like my mom makes it, except better! The only difference between our two versions is my mom likes to steam her glutinous rice rather than pan-fry. She was under the impression that there is a lot of oil and grease that goes into this pan-fry method but as you can tell from the recipe, there is very little oil. The shininess comes from the starch rather than the oil. I also prefer this method because I love eating rice dishes where the rice is separated into individual grains. Steaming produced alot more moisture and the potential for overcooking of the rice. The end result is more soggy and mushy than I would like. Try this pan-fry recipe now - it's a winner!