Glutinous rice chicken (Lo Mai Gai)

The glutinous rice chicken (Lo Mai Gai) is soft and gingery, paired with savory chicken pieces, shiitake mushrooms, and Chinese sausages, making this dim sum a favorite of many people.

It is not difficult to make glutinous rice chicken at home. As far as the chicken and mushrooms are marinated well and the steamed glutinous rice is mixed with the mixed sauce, it can make a delicious glutinous rice chicken in a dim sum restaurant.

The steamed glutinous rice chicken can be frozen in the refrigerator. When you want to eat it, take it out and steam  it until it softens, and you can enjoy the hot and fragrant glutinous rice chicken. 

When talking about glutinous rice, I believe that many friends are having problems cooking glutinous rice,  such as too much water in the rice. Rice that has been overcooked or that is too sticky to eat has a harsh texture.

To make glutinous rice chicken, getting the rice done is the most important key.  Let me share with you how to cook perfect glutinous rice for this delicious glutinous rice chicken.

Another important ingredient for making this glutinous rice was the fried scallion oil which I fried the oil with big onion, red onion, and ginger. This scallion oil really smells good, especially with noodles. Scallion oil can also be used to mix chicken, vegetables, etc. versatile and delicious.

HOW MUCH WATER DO YOU NEED TO COOK GLUTINOUS RICE?

The water used for steaming glutinous rice should be slightly less than that of ordinary rice. To steam glutinous rice, put water at a height of one centimeter.

HOW TO COOK GLUTINOUS RICE?

In most cases, glutinous rice is used to steam glutinous rice. Wash the glutinous rice, then put it in a pot, add an appropriate amount of water and steam it for 25 – 30 minutes.

DOES GLUTINOUS RICE NEED TO SOAK OVERNIGHT?

When you look up recipes online, you will see that some of the recipes required to soak the glutinous rice overnight. But I just soaked it for 2 hours and steamed it with water for 25 minutes. It has reached the texture that I like. If you let it soak overnight, the texture will turn out too soft and sticky which is very hard to marinate with the sauce.

I ever experienced to steam glutinous rice neither soaking the rice overnight nor adding water to steam it. The rice tastes cooked but it did not reach my preference texture, it is still a little hard for me.

Let us get all the ingredients to hand and detailed instructions to get started.

INGREDIENTS

500g glutinous rice (soaked for 2 hours)

300g chicken breast/ chicken thigh, cut into 10 potions

8 shitake mushrooms

1 Chinese sausage (sliced and fried)

3 tbsp scallion oil

MARINADE SEASONING

(For glutinous rice)

2 tbsp light soy sauce

2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp dark soy sauce

1 tsp white pepper

3 tablespoons mushroom water

 

 (For meat and shitake mushrooms)

1 tbsp ginger juice

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tsp sugar

1 pinch of pepper

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp Shaoxing wine

 

METHODS

1. Soak the mushroom with some water until soft. Cut the mushrooms into half if it is too big.  

2. Slightly fried the Chinese sausage with a little oil for a while to release the aroma. Do not fry it too long otherwise, it will turn hard.

3. Marinated the chicken breast and shitake mushrooms with the marinated sauce and set aside.

3. Wash and clean the glutinous rice and soak for 2 hours. Put the rice and 200ml of water on a plate and steam for 25 minutes.

4. Combine all the marinated sauce for the glutinous rice in a bowl, stir well and set aside.

5. Take the rice from the steamer and make it loose when it is still hot.  Add 3 tables of scallion oil together with the marinated sauce from (step 4). Stir well and let all the rice coated well with the marinated sauce evenly.

6. Prepare 8 ceramic bowls or 10 tinfoil cups. Place the marinated chicken breast, mushrooms, and sausages into the bowl. Fill the bowl with the glutinous rice till full and slightly pressed from the top. Add 1 tablespoon of water on the top of each bowl of rice. Steam for 30 minutes on high heat. ENJOY!!

Note:

The steamed glutinous rice chicken can be frozen in the refrigerator. When you want to eat it, take it out and steam it until it softens, and you can enjoy the hot and fragrant glutinous rice chicken.