Sticky Rice Lotus Parcels aka. Lo Mai Gai
Cook Time 1 hour and 30 minutes
Servings 8-10
Ingredients
2 ½ cups glutinous rice
4 dried lotus leaves
6 dried shiitake mushrooms
¼ cup dried shrimp
Marinated Chicken
2 chicken thighs
1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
1 tbsp light soy
1 tbsp dark soy
1 tbsp oyster sauce
½ tsp Chinese five spice powder
The Rest
1 thumb sized piece ginger, finely sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 heaped tbsp. mushroom XO
2 lap cheong, sliced into 1cm pieces
Sesame oil
Sauce
1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp light soy
1 tbsp cornstarch
Vegetable oil
Salt flakes
White pepper, ground
Method
Rinse the rice thoroughly and then place in a rice cooker and cover with one knuckle of water, cover and cook. Cut the lotus leaves in quarters and soak in hot water for about 45 minutes, to soften. Soak the mushrooms and shrimp in separate bowls for half an hour in warm water. While the rice, leaves, mushrooms and shrimp are doing their thing, cut the chicken thighs into cubes, around 3cm. Place in a clean bowl and add the rice wine, soy sauces, oyster sauce and stir thoroughly, to combine. Set aside to marinate for 15-20 minutes. When the mushrooms and shrimp are soft, squeeze any excess moisture from them and give them a rough chop. Reserve about a cup of the combined mushroom/shrimp soaking water for later.
In a heavy based pan or wok on medium to high heat. Add about a teaspoon of vegetable oil, then add the chopped lap cheong and shrimp. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes until fragrant and bubbling, then remove from pan and set aside. Add another good slug of vegetable oil to the pan, then add the ginger and garlic, and stir fry briefly, to allow the flavours to infuse into the oil. Add the chicken and stir fry for 3 minutes (it will be ‘just’ cooked for now, but they will finish cooking once steamed in their parcels). Add the mushrooms, the mushroom XO and a few drops of sesame oil, then stir to combine, then pour in the cup of reserved mushroom/shrimp water. Add the seasoning sauce ingredients; shaoxing, oyster and soy sauce, and five spice and stir to combine. Dissolve the cornstarch in a tablespoon of water and whisk into the sauce, to thicken.
Next, prepare the rice. Drain the sauce from the filling mixture and pour it into the rice, combine well.
When ready to assemble, trim the hard stem part of the lotus leaves to allow the parcels to fold easily. Place about a third of a cup or so of rice into the centre and flatten out to make a bed for your lap cheong, prawns, mushroom and chicken filling. Place a spoonful of the filling on top. Cover with about the same amount of rice, then fold in the two opposite sides of the parcel, then the other two, to form a sealed parcel. Flip over, so the edges are underneath, and set aside. Continue until all parcels are made; you should be able to make about 8 or so parcels or more, if you go smaller.
Steam the parcels for 20 minutes in a bamboo steamer, and they’re ready to eat! You can also cool them after steaming and store them in the freezer. Throw them straight into a steamer straight from frozen for 20-25 minutes when you’re ready to eat.