Lor Mai Kai, Steamed Glutinous Rice with Chicken Recipe (糯米鸡)

It is my one of my favorite DimSum dish. Whenever, we were having breakfast in a DimSum restaurant, it was always my dad's strategy to order this dish first; just to make sure our little stomachs get fill and no place for other dishes. When we grown up, we always use this as a joke even though we knew the reason behind...it is not cheap to eat in a DimSum restaurant especially you have 5 kids!

To make a delicious Lor Mai Kai, it is important to make sure that you use the drumstick as the meat is tender and the oil from the drumstick will moisten the rice. This same principle applies when we make 'bak zhang'. We always need to compensate between the 'healthy' recipe with the delicious dish.

Ingredients ( 4-6 bowls)

250 g glutinous rice

200 g boneless chicken thigh meat
3 pieces of mushrooms, soak and cut into 2-3 pieces
20 g of shallots, slice into thin pieces
1/4 bowl cooking oil
1/2 bowl of water
1/2 Chinese sausage
soya sauce

Marinate for chicken
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp. Chinese wine (optional)

1. Soak rice overnight or a minimum of 4 hours. Marinate the chicken for at least an hour.

2. For the rice, pour away the water and steam it for about 40 minutes.

3. In the mean time, prepare the shallots. Fry the shallots until it is brownish. Remove the onion oil and fried shallots from the wok and set aside.

4. Using the same work, prepare the sausage. Heat up the work and add in a little of onion oil. Slightly fry the sausage until fragrant. Remove and set aside.

5. To prepare the mushroom, add in some onion oil and mushroom. Stir-fry for around 1 minute and add in some water, salt and sugar. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the mushroom and set aside. Leave the sauce in the wok.

5. Using the same sauce, stir-fry the chicken until semi-cooked.

6. After the rice is steamed for around 40 minutes, transfer the semi-cooked rice to the sauce in the wok. Gently stir and mix the rice. Add some soya sauce, wine and fried onion. Taste and adjust accordingly.

To prepare the dish for steaming

7. For each bowl, add a slice of sausage, piece of mushroom and chicken at the bottom.

8. Scoop in the rice and press firmly with a tablespoon to flatten it. Add in some chicken gravy to moisten the rice.

9. Steam the bowls for 20 minutes or longer dependent on the bowl size that you are using.

10. Use a tablespoon to gently dislodge the rice and present it inverted. Serve the Lor Mai Kai warm.

Japanese Feast.....simple dish

While I was cleaning my fridge, I realize that there is still a pack Japanese rice hidden in the fridge . Since, it has been in the fridge for some time, my plan is to have a Japanese meal so I can use consume all the rice as soon as possible. This is the only way to get rid all stuffs in my congested fridge.

I was lucky that I had just borrowed a Japanese Cooking book from a library. After going through the book, I have selected a few simple dish and I was amazed on how easy the Inari Sushi is prepared.

Here are the menu of tonight's dinner:
Inari Sushi
Chilled Tofu
Radish Steak (Daikon no suteeki)
Japanese Savoury Pancake (Okonomiyaki)


In Japanese meal, rice is one of the most important ingredient. The cooked rice will be blended with vinegar. The ratio of vinegar and rice is important to give a good taste of the rice.


Sushi Rice
3 cups Japanese rice
70 ml rice vinegar
3 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsps salt

NOTE:
a. The ratio of rice and vinegar is 1000 g, 150 g
b. The ratio of vinegar, white sugar and salt is 1000 g, 250 g, 130 g


1. Soaking of the rice: If you are using rice from a newly opened package, it should soak in water for 5-10 minutes. This is to let them absorb some water. In contrast, the rice from an opened package which is already absorbed the moisture in the air, depending on the rice condition, soaking time should be lesser.

2. When washing rice, it should scrub thoroughly for longer time, to wash out the outer layer of rice grains. After washing, use a sieve to separate water from the rice grains and place them in the fridge. By placing rice grains in fridge for overnight will allow suitable texture after cooking, which makes techniques of molding and grasping easier.

3. You may cook the rice using normal electrical rice cooker. It takes around 30 minutes for the rice to cook. Upon cook, do not open the lid and let the rice to rest for another 15 minutes. This is to make sure that each rice grain to be cooked completely and to avoid hard center.

4. The step of adding the vinegar to the rice is extremely important. Pour the completely cooked rice to a pan (I am using a cake pan). Use one hand to add in vinegar while the other hand is holding a rice paddle diagonally to stir the rice grains. This will allow every rice grain to absorb vinegar evenly. When stirring the rice, it should be done in same procedure, either from top to bottom or from bottom to top. This is to avoid the rice from becoming loss of looseness.

5. After mixing, use a fan to cool down the rice rapidly to the room temperature before cover it with a clean damp cloth. Now, the rice is ready.

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Dashi

Dashi is the Japanese stock. It is made konbu and bonito flakes. In order to get an extra strong taste, it is advisable to soak the konbu in water for at least 3 hours. I have soaked overnight to make sure that all the flavor is released in the water. You may skip this step if you do not have time.
Tips: Do not boil konbu in hot water as this will make the dashi bitter.

Ingredients
10 cm konbu (kelp)
9 g dried bonito flakes
400 ml water

1. Wipe the konbu with clean cloth. This is to remove the white powdery substance on the surface.

2. Combine water and konbu in a pot, soak konbu for about 10 minutes or if you have time, soak for around 3 hours.

3. Boil the water over low heat and remove the konbu just before the water boils. Add in bonito flakes and let the water boil for 30 second. Off the heat.

4. Set aside until all bonito flakes sink. Strain and discard bonito flakes. Stock is ready to use.

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Inari Sushi (Sushi with Tofu puff)

In my previous attempt in preparing this sushi, I was always buy the ready made ajitsuke inari from the supermarket. As for this time, I am decided to make them myself base on the recipe found in the book. It is so simple and the cost is really cheap! I prefer the self made ajitsuke inari as I can adjust the sweetness based on our taste.
The wrapping of this sushi is so easy that even my son can manage it.

Ingredients
20 pcs of tofu puffs (flat type)
500ml dashi (please refer to the recipe above)
Seaweed slices

3 1/2 tbsp sugar, 3 tbsp soy sauce (shoyu), 2 tbsp sake (optional)

1. Boil tofu puffs in water for about 3 minutes to soften and remove excess oil. Drain well. Combine tofu puffs, water and bonito flakes in a pot, bring to boil and lower down the heat. Simmer with a tofu for 5 minutes. You may use a plate cover the puffs in order to make sure that the puffs is soaking in the water.

2. Then, add in all the seasoning and continue to simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until the puffs are soft. Remove from heat and let tofu puffs soak in the liquid.

3. To assemble, drain tofu puffs and slit each piece into half. Open up each half along the cut edge to make a small pocket.

4. Take a small portion of sushi rice and form into oval shape, stuff into the tofu puff. You may moist your hands with vinegar and sugar mixture to prevent the rice from sticking on the hands. Line a piece of seaweed strip along the sushi.

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Chilled Tofu (Hiyayakko)
This dish is quite similar to my mom's cold dish . Instead of using garlic oil and light soya, this recipe is served with bonito flakes. This dish is really simple and you can really taste the tofu flavor. You do not really need any special skill to prepare this dish.

Ingredients
1 box of tofu (cotton tofu)
Some bonito flakes
2 stalks of spring onions (chopped)
some Japanese soy sauce (shoyu)

1. Divide tofu into 4 portions. Top with spring onions and some bonito flakes.
2. Drizzle some soy sauce over the top just before serving.

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Radish Steak (Daikon no suteeki)

Ingredients
1/2 radish
1 liter water
A handful of bonito flakes
1 tsp cooking oil
1 tbsp Japanese soy sauce (shoyu)
sugar to taste


1. Peel radish skin. Cut radish into 1 inch thick circles.

2. Boil radish in rice water (from washing rice or add about a tablespoon of rice in the water) for about 10 minutes. Drain and rinse.

3. In a clean pot, boil 1 liter of water. Add in the bonito flakes and radish into the pot. Lower the heat and simmer until radish turns soft.

4. Remove radish from pot and pat-dry with paper towel.
5. Heat oil in a pan, pan-fry radish till lightly brown, add in soy sauce and some sugar to taste. Cook until sauce is reduced.

6. Transfer to serving places, garnish with spring onion and sprinkle some Furikake over the top. Serve warm. This dish is really nice and

Nasi Lemak

Yippeee.....school holiday starts!!! I am celebrating on behalf of my kids as I do pity them due to loads of homework they have in school. Other to celebrate the beginning of the holiday, we are also welcoming some relatives from my husband side. Normally, I will choose to cook for a few days just to host them even though I am not a good cook  :)

With the experience that I had during the Nasi Lemak feast I had in February, I gain some confident to prepare Nasi Lemak today with some books and online information. I would say, today is my first time preparing this 'unhealthy' dish. Even my husband and son are so shock when they knew about my menu!!!

Anyway...just for this time and try out my recipe that sits on for years. On top of that, I am planning to cook for a vegetarian version is the meat version goes well. It is to get ready my next year Chinese New Year menu which is only 11 months later!!

Since the rice is cooked with coconut milk, the flavor is really rich and most kids will eat the rice by itself even without any other dish. Other than coconut milk, the rice is cooked with pandan leaves (screwpine leaves) to enhance to flavor.

Having this meal around with kids is always challenging as they are not able to take any chili. Thus, most of the side dishes are dried separately and no chili is added. Sambal chili is served separately for adults. On top of that, I have also specially prepared "Fried Chicken with Lemongrass and Turmeric" for my kids. 

Ingredients:

Coconut milk steamed rice

2 cups of rice

3 screwpine leaves (tie them into a knot)

Salt to taste

coconut milk

water

Tamarind juice

Tamarind pulp (size of a tennis ball), add 1/2 cup of water to become assam water, discarded the seeds

Sweet Sambal tumis

5 dried chilies

5 fresh chilies

15 shallots

1 big onion

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 tsp of belacan (shrimp paste)

1 tbsp sugar, to taste (or gula melaka for stronger taste)

1/2 tsp salt

1 to 2 cup of oil

Other ingredients

3 hard boiled eggs, cut into half

Fried peanuts and tempeh until crispy

Fried Chicken with lemongrass and turmeric

Fried anchovies, washed, drained and fried with oil

1 Cucumber, sliced

1. Wash and drain the rice. Add the coconut milk, a pinch of salt and some water. Add the pandan leaves into the rice. Let the rice soak with the coconut milk and water for at least 30 minutes to make the rice more fluffy. The ratio of coconut milk with water is around 1:3. Cook the rice according to the rice cooker manual.

2. Rinse the dried anchovies and drain the water (Please do not soak the anchovies, if not it is difficult to make it crispy). Fry the anchovies until they turn light brown and put aside.

3. Cut tempeh into a size of 3x1 cm (depending on your preference).Fry tempeh until they turn light brown and put aside. Then, fry the anchioves until they turn light.

4. With the remainder oil, fry peanuts as well.

5. Blend the prawn paste with shallots, garlic and deseeded dried and fresh chilies. For easier blending, add in some oil (1/4 cup of oil). Blend until the ingredients turn into fine paste.

                                    

5. Use a clean pan. Pour chili paste and add in another 1/2 cup of oil into the pan. Stir fry for 10-20 minutes over medium low heat. Continue stirring until the chili paste will turn darker, light and oil separated after long stirring. Add in assam water, salt and sugar, continue stirring for another 5-10 minutes. Set aside.

6. Dish up the steamed coconut milk rice. Serve with fried anchovies, fried peanuts, hard boiled-eggs and a few slices of cucumber. In additional, you may also serve with fried chicken.

Hainanese Chicken Rice

It is not too difficult to cook a delicious Chicken Rice. As long as you follow all the secret steps, you can easily make your own delicious Chicken Rice.The most important is to have fresh ingredient especially the chicken and the herbs. The fragrance of the herbs will eventually bring the rice to the next level where we can really eat the rice by itself without any dish. 

It is necessary to have at least a chicken in order to get a good flavor of chicken rice. It is preferred to get a pot that has a size as close as the chicken so that you can immerse the whole chicken into the water without having too much water. The objective of this is to have a concentrate chicken stock so that you can use the stock to cook the rice. Besides water, we need to cook the soup with ginger, lemon grass and pandan leaves. Immerse the chicken with these herbs for at least 45 minutes or fully cooked. After that, lift the cooked chicken out of the boiling water and quickly immerse into the cold water (tap water). This will stop the cooking process of the chicken besides allowing the chicken's meat to absorb some cold water so that the meat will remain juicy and tender. After 5 minutes, remove the chicken from the cold water and cover the chicken with sesame oil. This will prevent the skin/meat from dehydration.

In the mean time, rinse and drain the rice. Use the chicken stock to cook the rice by following the manual instruction of the rice cooker. Add in some fresh pandan leaves into the rice. This will make the rice very fragrant.

Ingredients:

Soup

1 chicken (around 1-1.5 kg)

3 stalks of lemon grass

5 cm of ginger

5 pandan leaves

3 cups of rice

salt to taste

sesame oil

Chili Sauce

6 chilies

2 cm of ginger

1 clove of garlic

100ml vinegar

salt and sugar to taste

Ginger sauce

4 cm of ginger

50 ml olive oil

salt and sugar to taste

1. Heat up a pot of water. Make sure that the water level is high enough to cover the whole chicken.

2. When tiny bubbles start to form, add in the lemon grass, ginger and pandan leaves into the water.

3. In the mean time, clean the chicken by rubbing salt throughout the whole chicken. After rinsing with water, immerse the chicken in the hot water.

4. Let the water to heat up slowly and once it is boiling, lower down the heat and close the lid. On and off, turn the chicken. Depending on the size of the chicken, it will normally take around 45-60 minutes to cook the chicken. You may test the chicken readiness by checking at the thigh area.

5. Once the chicken is ready, lift up the chicken from the pot and immediately transfer and immerse the chicken in cold water. This is an important step as the cold water does not only stop the cooking process, it will allow the chicken's meat to absorb some water. This will make the flesh juicy and tender. Let the chicken soak inside the cold water for around 5-10 minutes. After that, lift up the chicken and hand it dry for a minute before use some sesame oil to rub all over the chicken's skin. This is to retain a layer of moisture on the skin.
                                   

6. While waiting for the chicken, rinse and drain the rice. Use the chicken stock to cook the rice. In order to get oily rice, use as much the oil portion from the soup. If the oil is not sufficient, you may add in a teaspoon of butter in the rice. Add in the pandan leaves, ginger and lemon grass (from the soup) as well. Cook the rice according to the rice cooker manual. 

                          

7. As for the chili sauce, put all the ingredient in a blender. Blend until fine and season with salt and sugar.

8. As the ginger sauce, put all the ingredient in a blender. Blend until fine and season with salt and sugar.