Did you hear about the ridiculous storm we had in NYC yesterday? It’s still unclear whether it was technically a tornado or just a fierce storm but the damage is horrifying. Large trees were uprooted and many streets are still completely blocked in my parents neighborhood (where we’re staying). I drove by crushed cars and houses with wrecked walls and windows.
Lon and I were in the car yesterday on Queens Boulevard when the storm hit and the rain poured on the windshield in a blinding layer and we had to stop-and-go on this major roadway. It really only lasted a few minutes but I was petrified by the sounds of I-don’t-know-what hitting the car and the fear of hitting large objects that had blown into the road. I didn’t know until later on how lucky we were. All we had to really endure was driving to my parent’s house at a snail’s crawl and not getting to watch TV since the storm killed their satellite.
Miraculously, only one reported death and no other severe injuries, but peoples cars and houses are ruined. My mom’s precious garden looks like tossed salad and so many couldn’t get home for hours last night when the Long Island Rail Road was halted along with multiple subway lines. Power was out for many too.
Sorry to go off on such a tangent but I’m just amazed, having never seen something like this in person my whole life. This doesn’t happen in New York!
Back to food; this is one of my favorites. It’s a sticky rice dish called Yo Fan that almost needs no introduction. You may have seen it at dim sum places, usually treated as one of many small plates. In homes, it’s often eaten as a side. Breaking rules, I sometimes just eat a big bowl of this for lunch. It’s very filling and already includes protein and mushrooms so why not? Besides the addictive texture sticky rice has for us carb-lovers, the sausage, shitakes, and dried shrimp add so much aroma while this is steaming. It just smells like a Chinese kitchen.
This happens to be a great make-ahead dish that keeps well for days in the fridge and reheats well in the microwave.
Sticky Rice with Chinese Sausage, Shitakes, and Dried Shrimp
~ 8 side servings
- 2 cups sweet rice (sticky rice)
- 3 dried shitake mushrooms
- 2 tablespoons tiny dried shrimp
- 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup chopped (1/4″ pieces) Chinese sausage
- 4 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- chopped scallion to garnish
- chopped cilantro to garnish
- kosher salt to taste
Instructions –
1. Put rice in a bowl and cover with cold water. Let it soak for 2 hours. Drain and set aside. At the same time, soak shitake mushrooms in water for about 2 hours, or until soft. Squeeze out excess liquid and chop into 1/4″ pieces.
2. Soak dried shrimp in water for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
3. Heat oil in a wok (or similar) on medium high heat. Add sausage and stir and toss for 30 seconds. Add mushrooms. Stir and toss for one minute. Add shrimp. Stir and toss for another 30 seconds. Add rice and stir for one minute.
4. Turn heat down to low. Stir in soy sauce with sugar and a few pinches of salt. Stir until well distributed. Remove from heat.
5. Transfer the rice to a flat bowl to steam in, about 1 3/4″ high. Spread it evenly into one layer and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of water.
6. Set up a steamer on medium heat and steam bowl of rice for 20 to 25 minutes, or until rice is cooked to your liking. Garnish with scallion and cilantro and serve.
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Jess! I was just looking for a recipe for this exact dish. I had this idea to steam it in chicken broth instead of water…ya think? Any potential problems?
Glad you were okay in the tornado. I kept reading more and more and getting worried.
Soopling, I don’t think there should be a problem with chicken broth but I’m not sure how much flavor it will impart. Let me know!
Sorry to hear about the storm and glad to know you were safe. Guess we sometimes forget how powerful nature is. Lovely pics. Reminds me a very tasty sausage rice that I had at KL recently
Any way I could sub a different kind of sausage? No Chinese sausage in the semi-desert 🙁
So glad to hear you guys are alright! I read that story and thought of you two! My childhood home was destroyed by a tornado in Illinois when I was in high school, and we literally lost everything we owned, and I remember how terrifying it was to be literally drop kicked by Mother Nature.
i got lost on the steaming part-help!
Thanks Kalyan, the more I look around at the damage, the more I feel really lucky.
EMC, I don’t think anything tastes quite like Chinese sausage. I can’t think of a sub. I’m surprised that you can get dried shrimp and shitake mushroom but not Chinese sausage?
Colleen, if you don’t have a steamer, you can make one. Set up a large pot and put something on the bottom like a heat-safe bowl (upside down) or something with holes is even better. Pour a few inches of water in. Put the bowl of sticky rice on top. The water on the bottom should not get into the bowl of sticky rice. It should be boiling underneath creating steam around the sticky rice. I hope that makes sense but if it doesn’t let me know so I can try to clarify more.
Yes, I’m confounded by the lack of Chinese sausage all the time, but it’s also September, and we have a very high percentage of Asian students who shop at the only tiny Asian grocery that exists here on the Palouse. The sausage is the first item to go. I’m at least happy that my students can find foods to make them feel at home (I remember homesickness!). I’ll wait until November when the demand dies down somewhat.
EMC, oh, glad you can at least get it sometimes. I wonder why they don’t just stock more if it’s popular. When you come to NY, I’ll load you up!
Yum! I love sticky rice. My mom always makes it at Thanksgiving.
Asianmommy, my mom makes it for Thanksgiving too – “stuffing”
I got a little confused with the instructions. Do you mix the stir-fried ingredients with the raw rice and put all of it in a steamer? May I do this in a rice cooker?
MC, the raw rice is stir-fried with the rest of the ingredients for just a bit and then it all goes into the steamer. It depends on the type of rice cooker so it’s worth a try.
Awesome simple recipe. Didn’t have chinese sausages or shitake ‘shrooms in the house so substituted with some left over char siew (sweet bbq pork) and chicken sausage pieces. Rice cooker will work fine. Just use a little less water(apprx 1/2 cup less)than usual as the frying in the wok kinds of cooks the rice a little. Mine turned out a little bit soggy/sticky but that suits me as the flavour was wonderful.
AYL, I’m glad you found some good substitutes to make it your own. I hope you try some more recipes!!