Por Por’s Sticky Rice

As a mother of four, my Por Por had a delicious repertoire of meals that could be made entirely, or almost entirely, in a rice cooker. After long days of cooking in a restaurant, the last thing she often wanted to do when she got home was cook. During the week, she relied on a handful of reliable and tasty recipes, rotating between them to keep things interesting. Despite their simplicity, these meals never lacked flavor, including her version of Cantonese Sticky Rice or lo mai fan.

In general, Cantonese Sticky Rice is a great ‘clean-out-the-pantry’ meal. Many of the ingredients used are dried or preserved such as:

Lap yuk (cured pork belly)

Lap cheong (cured fatty sausage)

Dried shiitake mushrooms

Dried shrimp

My grandmother's version is unique for two reasons. First, she primarily uses Jasmine rice, mixed with a small amount of glutinous rice in a 2:1 ratio. This allows it to be cooked in a rice cooker with just cold water, without any special tricks or considerations. Most recipes call for a higher ratio of glutinous rice to Jasmine rice, which can easily turn to mush in the rice cooker. This method offers a simpler, less fussy, and more predictable way to make sticky rice.

Second, she likes to incorporate thin strips of salted turnip and oyster sauce, both of which add extra layers of umami to the sticky rice. That being said, this dish is quite versatile and can be made with whatever ingredients you have on hand. For instance, in my recipe video, I didn't have dried shiitake mushrooms, so I left them out, but I would normally include them if available.

Ingredients for the Sticky Rice

• 2 cups of Jasmine rice

• 1 cup of sweet rice or glutinous rice

• 1 cup lap cheong, quartered, about 2.5 links

• 1 cup lap yuk, cut into small batons

• 1 cup dried shittake mushrooms

• 1/2 cup dried shrimp

• 1/4 cup salted turnip

• 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil

• 4 scallions, thinly sliced, for garnish

Ingredients for the Sticky Rice Seasoning

• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper

• 1/2 teaspoon MSG

• 1 teaspoon sugar

• 1 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 tablespoon regular soy sauce

• 1 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce

• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce

Special Equipment

• Rice cooker

• Wok

• Wok spatula

Serves 3-4 people

Directions

1. Start by soaking the dried shrimp, shittake mushrooms, and salted turnip in a bowl covered with warm warm water while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

2. Combine the Jasmine and glutinous rice together. Thoroughly wash the rice under cold water by agitating the grains in between your fingers to release the dirt and excess starch. Then, drain out the water and repeat three or four times or until the water is mostly clear.

3. Transfer the clean rice to a rice cooker and add two cups of water. Cook on a regular rice cycle since the majority of the mixture is Jasmine rice, it shouldn’t turn mushy. This should take one hour. Meanwhile, measure and combine all of the ingredients for seasoning the rice in a small bowl.

4. Drain the water from the dried shrimps, shiitake mushrooms, and salted turnip. Chop the dried shrimp and shittake mushrooms into small pieces. Thinly slice the salted turnip into thin strips.

5. Heat a wok up to medium high heat. Add in the vegetable or canola oil. Add all of the preserved ingredients into the wok and cook for five minutes to release some of the fat in the meat. You don’t want the ingredients to get too much color. Add in the seasoning sauce and cook for one more minute. Turn the heat off and allow to cool while your rice finishes cooking.

6. Once your rice has cooked, transfer the sautéed ingredients to the rice cooker and toss throughly through so that the rice turns a light brown color all around along with the thinly sliced scallions. Enjoy!