Glutinous Rice with Chinese Sausage

This is a recipe for a traditional glutinous rice known as sticky rice which is an staple in the Chinese cuisine which sausage, chicken or pork can be added. Have you ever had glutinous rice? In spite of the name “glutinous” it does not contain gluten at all, like all the other varieties of rice. Glutinous rice is grinded to make mochi flour which is a very popular ingredient in many Asian desserts and even savory ones.

I grew up with glutinous rice and its derivatives…I love all the “chewy” food that you can make with it. Recently I shared the “pearl meatballs” recipe which the meatball (any of your choice) is coated with a layer of glutinous rice. Today, I am sharing with you another savory dish, somewhat like fried rice and risotto…not as dry as fried rice and not as creamy as risotto. Instead of the Chinese sausage, you can substitute for chicken or pork. The secret is the amount of water added while cooking the rice…if added too much you will end up with“glue” like mess…not pretty. So in order to prevent, I like to soak the glutinous rice overnight after rinse it thoroughly and cook under steam. When done right, each rice grain is intact, semi translucent, and chewy…oh…so good! Therefor if you like chewy texture you are for a great treat.

Ingredients:

1½ cup glutinous rice 3 to 4 dry shiitake mushroom 4 Chinese sausages cut into small slices (or marinated chicken or pork with soy sauce and garlic) 1 small shallot, diced 2 stalks scallion or green onion, chopped 2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce 1 tablespoon cooking wine ¼ teaspoon sugar 2 teaspoons sesame oil ½ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon pepper (preferably white pepper) Cilantro for garnish Method:

One day before cooking the rice, wash the glutinous rice until the water runs clear. Soak in water overnight at room temperature.

On the day, drain all the water from the rice in the colander. Soak the mushrooms in warm-hot water for approximately ½ hour until softened. Squeeze the water from the mushrooms and cut into small cubes. Save the soaking water from the mushroom.

In a small bowl add the soy sauce, sugar, cooking wine, salt, pepper and sesame oil. Mix well until all the sugar is incorporated into the sauce.

In a wok, under medium heat fry the sausage. Once the sausage are golden both sides, remove from the pan and set aside.

On the same pan, with the remaining fat from the sausage, sauté the scallion and the green onion until fragrant. Next, add the mushroom and continue to stir-fry for a minute, make sure to stir continuously to not burn.

Add the rice and the sausage. Stir well until all the ingredients are very well incorporated. Add the mixture of sauce and continue to stir. Sprinkle with the mushroom water and continue to stir under medium heat.

After a couple of minutes, transfer into a steam bowl. Cook under steam until the rice is semi translucent. If necessary sprinkle with more of the mushroom water or plain water.

Garnish with cilantro and/or scallion and serve hot/warm.

Leftover rice can be warmed under steam, water-bath or microwave.

If you enjoy this very traditional Chinese recipe, you might want to take a look on a recipe which uses glutinous rice to make dessert…Pandan Infudes Coconut Milk with Sticky Rice.

Did you know that glutinous rice is also known as sticky rice? The reason that glutinous rice is sticky is because this kind of rice contains very little amount of amylose and high levels of amylopectin, which is responsible for its stickiness.

Thank you for stopping by Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!