My Ah-Ma just turned 87 years old. She lives independently and is a very determined woman. She just got her knee replaced and she has dutifully done her therapy on her own and is back to chopping coconuts with her hammer and screwdriver. In the summer of 2017, I made it a point to go and see her on my Fridays off, since those were the painful and lonely months leading up to her knee replacement. On one of those visits, I asked her if she could teach me to make her delicious Taiwanese sticky rice (which we have always grown up calling 油飯 but may be more formally known as 糯米饭). She was very happy that I asked, and she even walked a few blocks to Food 4 Less to get some ground meat, even though her knee was killing her. I felt really badly because of that, but I knew that she was excited to do this because when I arrived, she already made a pot of piping hot plain sticky rice in her traditional rice steamer and she had pre-cut all of the ingredients and placed them in little bowls. The dried shrimp was soaking and the ground meat was marinating. It touched me to see this. I always used to look forward to eating her sticky rice at family holiday gatherings, but it had been a while since she's made it because of her declining health. Finally, I was going to learn the secret and revive this recipe!
It was really fun and she knew that I genuinely was there to learn. She pointed out the bottles of spices and flavorings that she used and explained each one. She didn't try to gloss over the information. I asked lots of questions since I hadn't seen all of the prep work. Also, I spotted a kabocha squash on her kitchen floor and asked if we could put some of that in, and she gladly allowed me to cut it up, laughing because she was surprised that I would remember that that was an option since she had only put kabocha in one time.
Overall, the recipe is straightforward, but as with making paella or risotto, getting the texture of the rice correct is the trickiest part. The first time Ah-Ma showed me how to do it, she had pre-cooked a pot of glutinous rice in the rice cooker and separately stir-fried all of the other ingredients, then mixed it all together. She says that this is sort of the lazy, foolproof way. I used that method again three times for various potlucks and parties, and I still felt like I hadn't ever mastered it... something was always a little bit off. A few days ago for Chinese New Year, I had the opportunity to make sticky rice again with Ah-Ma. It is now a year and a half after she walked me through the process for the first time at her place. She's standing up without a walker and still a pro in the kitchen, but her knee is still bothering her even though the scars from her surgery have lightened. She also honestly seems less able to walk on stairs and more forgetful, but she still has that fiery spirit and can feel her way to making perfect sticky rice without any written recipe. This time, she saw that we had a steamer and suggested that we try the other method...the less fool-proof method.
Also, Wes was able to be with us this time, and he took some wonderful photos of not only the finished product, but the process and the event. He even stuck our Go Pro on the stove so that he could get photos of Ah-Ma schooling me (and us bickering, ha!). Ah-Ma thought that it was so funny and weird that we kept taking pictures, but she played along.
So, I'm going to share this treasured recipe, including the two methods that it can be made! I've been successful with both, but I think that I am still figuring out which one I like better, as they have their pros and cons. I think there is also a third way: to cook the sticky rice directly in a heavy-bottomed pot. So I'd have to try that in the future, too. I might also try different kinds of glutinous rice to see if a shorter grain is preferable, since I have been using long grain glutinous rice... maybe I could soak it for less time...maybe try adding some garlic...anyway, it's something that one could easily obsess over! As for Ah-Ma, she doesn't seem to prefer one method over the other, but she says that Method 2 is the "ancient" way. I thought that that was a good thing, but that's open to interpretation. You just have to try both and see for yourself.
Ingredients
4 cups of glutinous white rice*, soaked for a minimum of 2 hours and a maximum of 8 hours in cold water and strained
3 shallots, minced
1 carrot, minced
1/4-1/2 cup dried shrimp*, soaked for 45 minutes and strained
10 shiitake mushrooms*, soaked for 45 minutes and strained if using dried mushrooms, sliced
1/2 pound of ground pork
1/2 kabocha squash, chopped into 1/2" cubes
White pepper
Chinese five spice powder
Rice wine / Shaoxing wine
Regular sesame oil
Pure black sesame oil
Soy sauce
Oyster sauce
Chinese sausage (optional) cut into small pieces
*Do ahead!
Method 1
- Pros: Perfectly cooked rice (I mean, the rice cooker does it). You can adjust the taste as you go.
- Cons: It is time-consuming and exhausting to mix the pre-cooked glutinous rice in with all of the other ingredients in the wok - no wonder Ah-Ma doesn't do this anymore! It is so much arm work - the rice is so sticky and it can take a long time to break up all of the clumps, evenly distribute the sauce, and intermix all of the little bits and pieces of stuff among the grains. One adaptation I made though, is to stir in some of the sauce (sesame oil, oyster sauce, and soy sauce) into the uncooked rice before dropping it into the rice cooker. This eliminates the need to have to mix it as much later.
1. Rinse the glutinous rice (which should have been soaking for a few hours already). Stir 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil into this uncooked rice. Add the amount of water as indicated by your rice cooker (it should be 1 cup of rice to 1.25 cups of water) and cook it on sweet rice setting of rice cooker. If in doubt, cook according to package instructions.
2. Marinate the ground pork with rice wine (about 2.5 tablespoons), regular sesame oil (about 1 tablespoon), oyster sauce (about 2 tablespoons), white pepper (1/2 tsp), and five spice (1/2 tsp).
2. Heat 1/4 cup of pure black sesame oil in a wok. Stir-fry the shallots on high heat until golden brown, about 5-7 minutes.
3. Add the dried shrimp, Chinese sausage (optional), and ground meat. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the carrots and shiitake mushrooms. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes.
5. Add the kabocha. Stir fry for 5 minutes.
6. Add about a teaspoon each white pepper, and five spice powder. You could turn the heat down to medium at this time.
7. After about 5 more minutes of stir-frying, turn the heat down to low and add the pre-cooked glutinous rice.
8. Stir fry the rice with all of the ingredients, combining everything. Be sure that all of the clumps of rice are broken up. Taste and see if any other flavoring is needed.
9. Transfer everything out of the wok and into another pot for steaming. Place in steamer or simply cover the wok with a lid for another 10 minutes with the heat off to get everything nicely fluffy. No need to add more water.
Christmas 2017
Method 2
- Pros: You won't need to go through the arduous task of mashing clumps of glutinous rice within the wok for 20 minutes. (I mean, even my neck gets sore from looking into the wok!)
- Cons: Texture of the rice may not be as uniform, and the amount of time that it takes to steam thoroughly varies. You need to babysit the steamer and even when you think it's done, there may be hidden grains of uncooked rice in there. Also, you can't taste it to adjust the flavor until it's all done. But don't worry, I think I've got the measurements right. If you're putting in kabocha squash, it could possibly get mushy with all that steaming.
1. Heat 1/4 cup of sesame oil in a wok. Stir-fry the shallots on high heat until golden brown, about 5-7 minutes.
2. Marinate the ground pork with rice wine (about 2.5 tablespoons), regular sesame oil (about 1 tablespoon), oyster sauce (about 2 tablespoons), white pepper (1/2 tsp), and five spice (1/2 tsp).
3. Heat 1/4 cup of pure black sesame oil in a wok. Stir-fry the shallots on high heat until golden brown, about 5-7 minutes.
3. Add the dried shrimp, Chinese sausage (optional), and ground meat. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the carrots and shiitake mushrooms. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes.
5. Add the kabocha. Stir fry for 5 minutes.
6. Add about a teaspoon each white pepper, and five spice powder. You could turn the heat down to medium at this time.
7. After about 5 more minutes of stir-frying, add the pre-soaked glutinous rice (strained) into the wok. Add 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil Stir fry all of this, adding a little water every 2 minutes, for about 8 minutes, to get the rice toasty and fragrant.
8. Transfer into steamer basket with boiling water underneath. Steam for 20-25 minutes on medium heat.
9. Open the lid and overturn the rice (mix it so that the top layer gets to be on the bottom) and steam for another 5 minutes. Check again after this, and if there is still uncooked rice, cook for a little longer. Taste it, and add more soy sauce to adjust. Remove from heat and let sit, covered, for another 10-15 minutes.
3. Heat 1/4 cup of pure black sesame oil in a wok. Stir-fry the shallots on high heat until golden brown, about 5-7 minutes.
3. Add the dried shrimp, Chinese sausage (optional), and ground meat. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the carrots and shiitake mushrooms. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes.
5. Add the kabocha. Stir fry for 5 minutes.
6. Add about a teaspoon each white pepper, and five spice powder. You could turn the heat down to medium at this time.
7. After about 5 more minutes of stir-frying, add the pre-soaked glutinous rice (strained) into the wok. Add 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil Stir fry all of this, adding a little water every 2 minutes, for about 8 minutes, to get the rice toasty and fragrant.
8. Transfer into steamer basket with boiling water underneath. Steam for 20-25 minutes on medium heat.
9. Open the lid and overturn the rice (mix it so that the top layer gets to be on the bottom) and steam for another 5 minutes. Check again after this, and if there is still uncooked rice, cook for a little longer. Taste it, and add more soy sauce to adjust. Remove from heat and let sit, covered, for another 10-15 minutes.
Chinese New Year 2019
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