LO MAI GAI (STEAMED STICKY GLUTINOUS RICE WITH CHICKEN)

Let's talk about the name history of this food first (errr....I am not an expert but I try to explain here :) ). Different people from different country named it with different name. For people who are speaking in Cantonese, they called it Lo Mai Gai. For people who are speaking in Mandarin, it called Nuo Mi Ji (trans: Nuo Mi = Glutinous Rice ; Ji = Chicken). And, for english speaking countries, they called it Steamed Sticky Glutinous Rice with Chicken (...it is a long name for a food, isn't it? :)). Then, what about Indonesian speaking people? What are they call this food? Frankly speaking, I don't know though I am an Indonesian who love eating Lo Mai Gai (what a shame huh!)

This is a classic dim sum dish which is normally seen wrapped in lotus leaf, but some restaurant sold in alumunium bowl (in Singapore, if you eat at all you can eat restaurant which sold dimsum dishes, it will come in alumunium bowl). To me, I like it wrapped in lotus leaf more than in alumunium bowl. Reason?? I don't know, might be since the very first time I ate Lo Mai Gai, it came in lotus leaf, so it likes phsycological thingy :). Plus, I think using lotus leaf giving a different taste and fragrant.

This is one of few of my hubby favorite dim sum dish (besides shu mai and chicken bao). Before, when I was a single, I never make lo mai gai by myself. When the urge for this dimsum dish was come, I just go to buffet restaurant or stalls to buy it (there are plenty of small stalls which are sold lo mai gai in Singapore). Now, it is really hard to find this kind of food here :(.

Ok.....I'll stop talking and starting to let you know the recipe which I got from Dim Sum Recipe Book by Sisca Soewitomo, with a little adjustment from me :)...

Lo Mai Gai

Ingredients:

For Glutinous Rice:

250 gram glutinous rice

1 tsp salt

1 tsp knorr chicken powder (Belzy -- I skipped it)

400 ml water (Belzy -- I used chicken broth)

2 tbsps vegetable oil

For Chicken Filling:

2 tbsps vegetable oil

1 tbsp sesame oil

5 cloves shallots, finely chopped

200 gram chicken fillet, diced

3 pieces shiitake mushroom, sliced

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tbsp sweet soy sauce (Belzy -- kecap manis ABC)

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp mushroom flavor soy sauce (Belzy -- I used Lee Kum Kee's brand)
1 tbsp salty soy sauce (Belzy -- kecap asin ABC)

1 tbsp shaoxing wine (optional)

1 tbsp tapioca flour, mixed with water.

For Completion:

5 boiled salty egg yolk (optional)

8 sheets of lotus leaf, cleaned and washed (Belzy -- I cut into 4 pieces for every sheet of lotus leaf)

Instructions:

For Glutinous Rice:

1. Soak glutinous rice for 1 hour, rinsed and drained from water. Steam it for 15 minutes. Set aside.

2. Boil chicken until boiled well, the chicken no longer pink. Drained chicken from the broth. Set aside.

3. Boil the chicken broth, add salt, boil it until the rice is fluffy, then divide by 8. Set aside.

For Chicken Filling:

Heat up sesame oil and vegetable oil with medium heat, stir in shallot until fragrant. Stir in chicken, shiitake, salt, pepper, sweet and salty soy sauce, mushroom flavor soy sauce and oyster sauce, stir well. Add in tapioca flour, stir it until thick enough.

For Completion:

Spread 1 sheet of lotus leaf, scoope 1 tablespoonful glutinous rice (layer 1). Scoope in 2 tbsps filling on top and add in one salty egg yolk (layer 2). Cover it with another 1 tablespoonful glutinous rice, then wrapped it. Repeat it until no more glutinous rice and chicken filling.

Steam it for 15 - 20 minutes until steamed well. Serve it while its hot.