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International Cooking Series: Lo Mai Fan (Cantonese Sticky Rice)

This entry into the International Cooking Series takes us to Guangzhou, China. We love stir-fried rice dishes, but this Cantonese sticky fried rice is a dish we had never tried before. 


For this recipe we referenced the Made with Lau Cantonese Sticky Rice recipe by Chung Sun Lau. We halved this recipe and made some minor substitutions based on what ingredients we could find in our area, and it still made 4 comfortable servings.

Ingredients

  • 1 oz Chinese sausage

  • 1 oz cured pork belly (we used pancetta)

  • 4 oz fresh shiitake mushroom

  • 0.5 oz dried shrimp

  • 5 green onions

  • 1 oz cilantro (same amount as green onion)

  • 2 oz jasmine rice

  • 10 oz glutinous rice

  • 2 cloves garlic

  • 3 tbsp oil

  • 1 tsp dark soy sauce (for cooking rice)

  • 1 tsp salt

  • 1 tsp dark soy sauce (during stir frying)

  • 1 tsp regular soy sauce (during stir frying)


About that cured pork belly...

We couldn't find a Chinese cured pork belly (which is specially flavored) at any of our markets. We did find cured porkbelly in the form of pancetta. So we marinated it over night in the ingredients below. 


Pancetta Marinade

  • 2 tbsp soy sauce

  • 1 tbsp rice

  • 1 tbsp dark brown sugar

  • 1 tbsp of honey

  • 1.5 tbsp of hoisin sauce

  • 2 tsp Chinese 5 spice

  • 1 clove garlic (minced)

  • 2 drops of red food coloring (optional)

We were able to find Chinese sausage, glutinous rice, and dried shrimp by visiting one of the local asian markets. If you can't find glutenous rice, we think sushi rice would be a good substitute. This recipe would also be equally delicious with any kind of rice, but you'd lose the "sticky" part of the recipe.


Step 0 (if you can't find Chinese pork belly)

Marinate pork belly.


Step 1

Wash the rices and drain.


Step 2 

Wash the dried shrimp and soak in warm water while you prepare other ingredients.


Step 3

Slice up mushrooms, green onion, and cilantro. Slice the porkbelly and chinese sausage into small, stir-fry-sized pieces. 


Step 4

Bring water to a boil before adding rice. You want double the volume of your rice in water. Add your rice and 1 tsp of dark soy sauce to the water to color and flavor the rice. Cook for 10mins - rice will be sticky, not fluffy.


Step 5

Start stir frying the other ingredients in stages. Add oil to a wok or cast iron pan on high heat. Drain the shrimp. When the oil is hot, add garlic and shrimp, and keep it moving for 10-20 secs. 


Add Chinese sausage and the cured pork belly. Cook for about 30-40 seconds. For us, we needed to make sure the pork was cooked through.

 

Add the mushrooms and cook for another minute. Add 1 tsp light soy sauce and 1 tsp dark soy sauce. Cook it all for another minute and then transfer to a plate.


Step 7

Add more oil to the wok, and then once it's hot, add the rice. Stir-fry until the rice for about 1.5 minutes. Add 1-2 tsp of soy sauce and toss for a few more seconds. Lower the heat and add back in the rest of the ingredients. Keep everything moving for 2.5 minutes, then turn off the heat, and add the chopped cilantro and green onion. 


Step 8

Plate and serve! We packed our rice into a small bowl and then flipped it onto a plate to to create a dome shape. 






We particularly enjoyed the authenticity of this recipe. The ingredients were familiar and yet the flavor of this dish was unlike any rice dish we have made before.


This is what we were hoping to achieve by starting this International Cooking Series: experiencing new and traditional dishes from cultures different from our own. Thanks to Chung Sun Lau, we consider this particular meal a resounding success. It has earned a coveted spot on our regular home menu.

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