Loh Mai Kai ~ 糯米雞 (Glutinous rice steamed with chicken)

Loh Mai Kai is the transliteration of  糯米雞 in Cantonese, meaning glutinous rice steamed with chicken.  It is a common dish in any dim sum restaurant and you can't miss it. Some of them are served in  small steel bowls while some are steamed in alluminium foil cups.  The glutinous rice is steamed with chicken, mushroom and Chinese sausage, but in my recipe today, I had to omit Chinese sausage as I wasn't able to get it during this 'lock down' period.  Hence, I substituted with some dried shrimps and dried scallops.  The taste of the glutinous rice is just wonderful as it has been infused with these flavours.  It's best to use drumsticks, deboned or with bones, absolutely your personal preference.  You can enjoy Loh Mai Kai for breakfast or brunch or whenever you feel like it.
                              

Loh Mai Kai  ~  糯米雞  (Glutinous rice steamed with chicken)

Ingredients for the Rice

• 350 gm glutinous rice
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3 shallots, chopped
• 1 Tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 1/2 Tbsp light soy sauce
• 1/2 to 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• some pepper
• salt to taste (add this after the rice has been steamed)

Ingredients for Filling

• 230 gm deboned drumstick, cut into bite size
• 6 Shitake mushrooms, hydrated, stemmed
• 10 gm dried shrimps, hydrated
• 20 gm dried scallops, hydrated

Seasoning for chicken and mushrooms

• 1 Tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp Rose wine or Shaoxing wine
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• some pepper
• a knob of grated ginger

Method for Rice

1. Wash and rinse the glutinous rice a few times till the water is clear.  Then add water to soak the rice for at least 8 hours or preferably overnight.
2. Next day, drain off the water, rinse again, pour rice onto a strainer to get rid of excess water.
3. Heat up a bit of oil in a pan, saute the chopped garlic and shallots till fragrant and pour in the rice, pan fry.
4. Add in the sauces, sesame oil, pepper, mix well and fry the rice, occasionally adding in water to cook the rice, about 1/2 cup or more.  Once the rice has softened, transfer it onto a heat proof dish to steam the rice for about 30 mins.
5. After the rice has been cooked, fluff it and test for taste before adding in salt.  Set aside.

Method for chicken and mushrooms

1. Marinate the chicken and mushrooms with the above seasoning and cornstarch.  Mix well, cover and keep refrigerated.
2. Next day, heat up some oil in a pan, lightly pan fry the dried shrimps and scallops till fragrant, dish up.
3. Pan fry the chicken and mushrooms, add water and let it simmer till the chicken and mushrooms are cooked.   Add in more cornstarch mixture to make more sauce.  Fine tune to taste.  (More sauce is needed to lace the loh mai kai when assembling before steaming).

Assembling the loh mai kai

1. Place a piece of mushroom, chicken, some dried shrimps and two scallops, with some sauce into the bowl.
2. Scoop some glutinous rice on top and press it in.  Lace the surface with some sauce.
3. Steam on medium high heat for about 15 mins.  
4. Serve

Yield :  6 bowls of loh mai kai

Note :

1. You can use a Chinese sausage instead of the dried shrimps and scallops.  Discard the casing of the sausage, slice it up diagonally.  Pan fry without oil, dish up the sausage and use the oil to fry the chicken and mushrooms.
2. To hydrate the mushrooms, rinse and soak them twice but keep the final round of water to cook the rice or chicken. 
3.  To hydrate the dried shrimps and scallops, rinse and soak for about 30 mins.  The scallops will ‘expand’.   Keep the water for cooking the chicken and mushrooms.