Home-Made Lo Mei Kai II -- Rice Cooker Convenience

If you thought the previous classic Lo Mei Kai recipe was a little too involved -- time- and energy-wise -- here’s a more casual, homey version that’s a lot easier to put together. It also allows for a great deal more freedom to experiment with flavors, textures and aromas; it’s just a lot more fun to make. I find this dish very appealing on other fronts too: the colors are more vibrant, the flavors more complex and the textures more layered and varied.

In this “modern” version of “chicken glutinous rice”, rather than cooking the glutinous rice in the steamer the classic way, the rice is cooked in the electric rice cooker instead; which means that it can be left to cook on its own with no supervision (hooray!). Once the rice goes into the cooker, it’ll happily cook away, and when it’s done, it’ll sit there just as happily, keeping warm until you are ready to serve.

But cooking glutinous rice in the rice cooker also means another departure from the classic method of preparation -- the glutinous rice is cooked in liquid, rather than steamed “dry” without any additional liquids added. This does result in rice with a different texture -- still chewy and sticky, but different. And although different, still very good.

The initial preparation of the glutinous rice is the same as for the classic method:

• Wash then soak the rice for a few hours (about 4 hours or so). Drain well. • In a wok or deep skillet, heat a little bit of oil and very briefly sauté some minced garlic. • Add the rice and toss well to ensure each grain of rice is nicely coated with a little oil. • Season the rice with some light soy sauce, and a pinch of both sugar and salt. Mix well.

The rice is then ready to go into the rice cooker, together with some chicken broth or stock. [I highly recommend using broth instead of water; it makes a world of difference to the flavors of the rice. But in a pinch, water will do.]

It took me a couple of attempts before I got the ratio of rice-to-stock to exactly where I like it. As glutinous rice is not normally cooked in liquid, I didn’t want it to turn too soft with the addition of the chicken stock. Yet, it still requires enough of the stock to be able to cook properly -- that being the nature of electric rice cookers. In the end, I have settled on 400ml of stock to 300g of glutinous rice; this produces rice with my preferred level of “Q-Q” chewy stickiness, and with the right balance between soft tenderness and firm bite.

And that’s it! Once the rice and stock goes into the rice cooker, it needs no further meddling. As for the rest of the ingredients, they are prepared separately; and it’s all just a matter of doing some cutting and dicing, and then simply a brief sauté before they are ready to be mixed into the cooked glutinous rice.

The “basic mix” that I use consists of small cubes of chicken, carrots and Chinese mushrooms. From here, I build and layer the flavors and textures as my mood or desires-of-the-moment dictate.

The chicken meat of choice for me is boneless thigh meat; they have so much more flavor and a more succulent, juicy, moist bite. But breast meat will work just as happily.

Cut the chicken meat into small cubes (about 1 cm or so), and season with some light soy sauce, oyster sauce, a dash of sesame oil, a pinch of sugar, some pepper and a little bit of cornstarch (to give the meat a silky smooth texture). Leave to macerate for at least 20-30 minutes or so.

Some carrots and pre-prepped (see previous post for an explanation of this) Chinese mushrooms are also diced finely (round about the same size as the chicken, or slightly smaller for the carrots).

Sauté some minced garlic in a little bit of hot oil. Add the carrots and fry until almost tender. The mushrooms are then added and sautéed very briefly. The chicken goes in and is fried until thoroughly cooked through. Season the mixture with light soy sauce and pepper to taste.

Just before serving, remove the rice from the rice cooker and fluff through with a pair of forks or chopsticks (the rice will be sticky, but it can be done; take note though that spoons and over-zealous stirring will squish the rice and turn it into a sticky paste). Add the chicken mixture and toss to incorporate evenly.

Now, here’s the fun part. I like to add several other ingredients to the mix for an added layer of flavor and texture.

Sometimes I add some deep-fried dried shrimp for a highly fragrant, flaky-crispy, savory crunch, and some finely chopped spring onions (green onions or scallions) for an extra splash of color and aroma.

I find flash deep-frying the small dried shrimps changes their texture completely -- from dense and slightly chewy to very crispy with a light, tender, almost flaky bite. Absolutely delectable! And it complements the sticky chewiness of the rice very well.

Drain the fried shrimps well on absorbent kitchen paper before adding to the rice.

On other occasions, I’ve used finely diced bacon (or even ham) sautéed until crispy, together with some chopped fresh coriander (Chinese parsley or cilantro).

Lap cheong (Chinese preserved sausages) is another delicious possibility. And small cubes of raw cucumbers can add a refreshing crunch to the lo mei kai.

This quick and easy rice cooker version of chicken glutinous rice makes for a wonderful meal in itself or as a highly visually appealing side dish. It’s a very happy dish -- lots of colors, flavors, textures and aromas contrasting and complementing each other all at the same time.

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One final aside: glutinous rice is my and my family’s favorite festive stuffing for poultry -- be it chicken, duck or goose. Cooked in the bird, the rice takes on the most incredibly gorgeous, intensely rich, luxurious flavors. It’s so good I usually end up preferring to eat just the stuffing, and foregoing the meat altogether!

We make different variations of the stuffing depending on the type of bird and on our fancies -- Chinese chestnuts, lap cheong (Chinese sausages), dried Chinese mushrooms, dried shrimps, pork, carrots and all sorts of combinations of many different ingredients are all prime candidates for inclusion in the stuffing.

If the bird is braised, raw glutinous rice is used; if the bird is oven-roasted, steamed glutinous rice is best. It’s a fair bit of work, but boy! is it worth it! And it always makes the Holiday celebrations that little bit more special… and tastier!

Copyright © 2004 Renee Kho. All Rights Reserved.
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