Sticky Rice Wrapped In Lotus Leaves Food

LO MAI GAI (LOTUS LEAF WRAP) RECIPE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• One hour ahead of time, prepare the rice and lotus leaves. Soak the lotus leaves in hot water for 1 hour.
• Cover the rice with water and let soak for 1 hour.
• After 1 hour, pat the lotus leaves dry and drain the rice.
• Next, steam the rice. Line a bamboo steamer with parchment paper or cabbage leaf. Fill a wok approximately to the halfway point with water so that the steamer will be sitting above the water without touching. Bring the water to a boil cover the rice and steam for about 20 minutes. Remove the rice, cover and keep warm while preparing the remainder of the ingredients.
• Soften the dried mushrooms by soaking in hot water for 20 to 30 minutes.
• Squeeze out any excess water from the mushrooms, remove the stems and finely chop.
• Cut the chicken into small cubes about the size of a postage stamp.
• Add the salt, 1 tablespoon rice wine and 1 teaspoon cornstarch to a bowl, mix. Add chicken pieces and marinate the chicken for 20 minutes.
• Finely slice the sausages. Peel and chop the garlic.
• In a small bowl, combine the rice wine, light soy, and dark soy sauce. In a separate small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in the water, and whisk into the sauce.
• Heat a wok and add 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and stir-fry until aromatic (about 30 seconds). Add the chicken cubes. Stir-fry until they turn white and are 80 percent cooked through.
• Add the sausages and the mushrooms. Stir-fry for a minute. Give the sauce mixture a quick re-stir then add in the middle, stirring quickly to thicken. Season with pepper to taste. Cook for 1 to 2 more minutes to mix everything together and heat through. Remove from the heat and stir in the sesame oil. Cool.
• To make the wraps, separate the rice and the filling into 8 equal sections, 1 section for each wrap. Lay a lotus leaf in front of you. Place a portion of the rice mixture into the center of a lotus leaf. Add the meat and vegetable mixture over top, shaping the rice with your hands so that it forms a ring around the filling. Add more rice to cover.
• Form a square parcel with the lotus leaf and tie it up with twine. Repeat with the remaining lotus leaves.
• Steam the lotus leaf parcels, covered, on a heatproof plate placed in a bamboo steamer in the wok for 15 minutes, or until they are done.

STICKY RICE WRAPPED IN LOTUS LEAVES

Steps:

• Place 1 cup rice in a pan with 2 cups water (1 to 2 ratio), then bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. In a large bowl or in a clean sink, soak the lotus leaves for 20 minutes in enough hot water to cover, and then drain and set aside. In a small bowl, soak the dried shrimp for 20 minutes in enough hot water to cover, and then drain, finely chop and set aside. In another small bowl, soak the dried mushrooms for 20 minutes in enough hot water to cover, and then drain, finely chop and set aside.
• Heat a wok over high heat until the wok begins to smoke, and then add the peanut oil. Add the ginger, shallots, chopped shrimp and chopped mushrooms, and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the ground pork and stir-fry to break up. When the pork begins to brown, stir in the 5-spice and rice wine. When the wine has almost evaporated, stir in the rice. Once the rice is incorporated, season with the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, white pepper and mix well. Remove from the heat.
• Remove lotus leaves from soaking water (if you haven't already), open and pat dry with paper towels. Spoon half of the sticky rice mixture into the center of 1 lotus leaf. Fold in the sides (snug, but not tight), fold up the bottom and roll up. Secure with butcher's twine. Repeat with the remaining lotus leaf and rice. Place in a bamboo steamer and steam for 8 to 10 minutes to infuse with fragrance. Remove from the steamer and unwrap the parcels. Serve garnished with the sliced scallions.

STICKY RICE WRAPPED IN BAMBOO LEAVES (JOONG OR ZHONGZI)

Steps:

• Start the day before you want to make the dumplings!
• Soak rice, mung beans and bamboo leaves in separate containers overnight. Place a bowl or plate over the bamboo leaves to keep them submerged.
• Combine 2 tsp salt, black pepper, 1 clove garlic, rice wine, water, rock sugar, cinnamon, white pepper, cloves, coriander, fennel, fenugreek and 2 tbsp canola oil in bowl. Stir in cubed pork, cover and refrigerate overnight.
• The next day, drain rice and set aside.
• In a wok, heat remaining canola oil and stirfry remaining garlic, carrot, onion and ginger until slightly softened. Add chicken broth, 1 tsp salt, and fish sauce and stir well. Strain any excess marinade from pork and add to wok, (return Pork to fridge) and heat until bubbling. Add drained rice and stir frequently until liquid is absorbed. Let sit until cool enough to handle.
• Meanwhile, transfer bamboo leaves to large pot of boiling water and simmer 30 minutes to soften and sterilize. (Vinegar can be added here to soften them further.) Wipe each leaf with a sponge or scrubbing pad under cool running water to remove any remaining soil. You can trim off the stems with scissors.
• Drain mung beans and add white sugar and remaining 1/4 tsp salt.
• Prepare 25 or so 4' lengths of string. I tied groups of 5 together at one end, with a loop to hang from a hook on my cabinet. Then as I tie up my dumplings, they are hanging from the string and I can put them in and take them out of pots in groups of 5.
• Lay out your wrapping materials: softened bamboo leaves, rice mixture, mung beans and pork. You may want to keep the bowl of marinated pork in a larger bowl full of ice to keep it cold while you wrap.
• Take 2 bamboo leaves, overlapping along their long sides about half-way, and form a cone (see videos). Pat in about 2 tbsp rice mixture, then 1/2 tbsp mung beans, then 2 or 3 pieces of pork, another 1/2 - 1 tbsp mung beans, then cover with another 2 or 3 tbsp of rice mixture. You may need to add a third bamboo leaf to extend the cone.
• Use the ends of the leaves to firmly compress the cone of ingredients, and roughly shape the open end into a square or rectangle. Closing the bamboo leaf is tricky. I held the cone with the leaf ends pointing away from me. I folded the near edge towards the middle, folded the ends towards me over that, and carefully folded each side towards the middle, ensuring that the corners were covered. I always oriented my leaves the same way, so one side was leaf ends and the other was stem ends. I aimed to get the leaf ends under the stem ends. Then wind string around it until it seems secure. Keep wrapping dumplings until the filling is all gone. As I said, the first one took about 20 minutes, and several tries before it looked like it would hold together. The first 5 or so were quite ugly! But then I got the hang of it.
• Heat a large pot or wok of salted water to boil. Place a few extra or ripped bamboo leaves in first, then some dumplings, then some more leaves. The water should just about cover the dumplings. I did 10 at a time in my wok and large pot. Bring back to a boil, cover and reduce heat to medium-low to maintain a good bubbling simmer for 2 hours, adding water about half-way through. They should be puffed slightly and feel firm but squishy when you squeeze them. Drain and rinse off with cool water.
• Allow to cool or eat some hot right away. Remainder will keep in the fridge for 3-5 days, and they freeze well (up to 6 months in a good freezer, well-wrapped).