Steamed Glutinous Rice with Chicken (Lo Mai Kai)

I still keep in mind my self-challenge to showcase asian (especially Singaporean) food instead of the usual real food fare, and if I do share a recipe that's not, to follow up with one that's similar/inspired, but asian. When I did the Greek dolmades, I knew I just had to do Lo Mai Kai, fragrant glutinous rice steamed with chicken, shiitake mushrooms, chinese sausage, and/or dried shrimps, wrapped up in lotus leaves (hence also called Lotus Leaf Rice 荷叶饭). However, the Singapore version of Lo Mai Kai is slightly different. It's steamed in little aluminium foil bowls, sold in coffeeshops (kopitams) along with Chinese steamed buns (pau), as takeaway tea or breakfast.

Lo Mai Kai

serves 1 hungry person (please make more!)

Ingredients

1/2 cup brown glutinous rice

70g chicken thighs, deboned and chopped into bite-sized pieces

2 shiitake mushrooms, soaked (mushroom soaking water reserved)

For chicken and mushrooms

1 tsp dark soy sauce (I use 1 tsp tamari + 1 tsp molasses)

1 tsp natural oyster sauce

1 tsp shaoxing huadiao rice wine

1 clove garlic, grated

few drops of sesame oil

white pepper

For Rice

1 cup water (or stock)

1 tsp tamari light soy sauce (+a little bit of molasses)

1 tsp natural oyster sauce

1/2 tsp five spice powder

few drops of sesame oil

white pepper

Method

1. The night before, soak the rice with enough water to cover (This is not just a step to reduce phytic acid in grains, this is a must for sticky rice!) and marinate the mushrooms and chicken.

2. The next day, drain the rice and cook with 1 cup of water for about 30 minutes, or till cooked (I use a rice cooker). Mix with the seasoning for rice.

3. Fry the chicken and mushrooms for a few minutes till cooked.

4. To assemble, place the chicken and mushrooms at the bottom of a greased metal dish, then top with the rice. Press down to make sure the layers are tight.

5. Steam over medium high heat for 30 minutes.

6. Turn out onto a plate and dig in! If you've been wondering so far why I'm hiding the chicken and mushrooms with the rice instead of showcasing them, ah, now you know! It works like pineapple upside down cake.

The sticky rice is infused with the delicious flavours from the spices and seasoning, shiitake mushrooms, and marinated meat. And the pork lard, as used traditionally, and which I'd happily add to if I had. This was one of my favourite dishes growing up. My mum would go to the Tanjong Rhu Pau stall (best paus ever) and buy like 20 buns and these delicious Lo Mai Kai for tea that day and breakfast the next day. Now I wish I doubled the recipe..

Mushroom Beef and Ale Soup

Well, I for one am glad that I have finished the 10 recipes with 5 ingredients, as much fun as that was ... I do enjoy just a few more ingredients to a meal.   I have a couple of questions though... did you like the recipe format I used ? compared to my normal method of just showing you what went into the dish ?   Please leave a comment below , thanks.  
Soup , is always a great choice ... its good any season of the year , for lunch , dinner, even breakfast !!   I love a good soup,  my only problem with making them .. is that I tend to turn them into stews!!  So I was determined the other day to create one , that not only was healthy and tasted great , but that actually resembled a soup!!

Ingredients Required :  

1L of beef broth , or stock ( this is the last of my store bought , gone forever from my kitchen now) 

1lb of a variety of mushrooms   I had white , portabello, shitake and oyster 

2 cups of cooked ground beef 

2 onions 

3 cloves of garlic 

1/2 can of your favourite ale. ( This is a local craft brew , very good !! ) 

A couple of pats of butter 

Salt n Pepper to taste

Here is what you will need 

Simply slice everything up , bite sized for the mushrooms and a medium dice for the onion 

Add it right into the soup pot ,  butter in first then all the onions, mushrooms and garlic together . Season with your favourite herbs,  I went with basil , thyme and oregano/:) Med/High heat .  

Once the Mushrooms and onions have softened just a bit , add the beef in .  Give it all a good stir. 

Once the beef is in the pot for about a minute , pour in the liter of stock, and half the can of ale ...  stir , reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes to blend all the flavours.

Meanwhile , you need some good bread to go with soup....  I found this at a local Persian Food market that just opened up nearby :)  What a bargain for $1,50 for a 3 foot long piece of bread.  

And this is were the pot of bubbling soup should go ??!? For whatever reason , either I lost or deleted the shot , or simply forgot to take one.   However its an easy step.    Don't forget to taste the seasoning , adjust as required. 

That's its , ladle some into your favourite soup bowl, grab a few hunks of bread and your set .

Dinner is served, Mushroom Beef and Ale soup!! 

Its not that often that I impress myself, but this dish did!! I'm very happy with this , and will be making it again in the near future , this time with my own beef stock.
I hope you have enjoyed this post , all comments and feedback are welcomed, just click the link below to leave a comment , or if your shy , just select  reaction .. its all good !!
Happy Cooking

Appetizers

So far I’ve given you three menus consisting of a main dish, a starch, and vegetable side dishes. If you were cooking one of the menus for a dinner party, you might want to add an appetizer and a dessert which you can purchase or make yourself. If you decide that you are up to making an appetizer, I’m going to give you three: two are truly easy and one is a little more complicated—maybe more the sort you would take to someone’s house if you were assigned the “pre-eating” course with drinks. Except that it is so good that you might want to eat it for dinner.

Apricot Thrones

25 pecan halves
2 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
2 ounces blue cheese
25 dried apricots

1. Preheat the oven or toaster oven to 325ºF. Place the pecans on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until golden brown. Watch carefully. Let them cool.
2. Combine the cheeses and stir until evenly mixed. If the mixture doesn’t get smooth, microwave for 10 seconds to soften slightly and stir again.
3. Scoop up small amount of the cheese mixture and place on top of each apricot. Start with a small amount. You can always add more later. Note: You can use a pastry bag if you are doing a large number of these.
4. Top with a toasted pecan, rounded side up, if you are fussy about it. Transfer the apricots to a serving plate, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate.
Note: The recipe can be completed to this point up to 8 hours before serving.
5. Serve at room temperature.

6-10 servings
Adapted from Hugh Carpenter and Teri Sandison’s Fast Appetizers

Dates Stuffed with Almonds

24 blanched whole almonds, toasted or untoasted
24 medium dates, pitted
12 thin slices bacon, cut in halves

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
2. Stuff an almond inside each date. Wrap each date with bacon and secure with a toothpick crosswise.
3. Bake in the 350ºF oven on a baking sheet for 20-30 minutes or until the bacon is crisp.
If the bacon isn’t browned enough for you, place the dates under a hot broiler for a minute or two, watching them closely.
Note: Can make the day ahead and bake for 20 minutes. Reheat at 350ºF before serving.

8 servings (about 3 per person)
Adapted from Marimar Torres’ The Catalan Country Kitchen

Mushroom Pâté

½ ounce dried porcini mushrooms
1 cup boiling water
¼ cup butter (½ stick)
1 pound fresh cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced, tough stems discarded
1 garlic clove, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
½ teaspoon hot sauce
½ teaspoon sugar
6 ounces cream cheese
Salt and pepper
¼ cup chopped fresh chives, parsley or cilantro or a mixture
Edible flowers, like society garlic flowers, optional
Crackers, thinly sliced French bread, or crostini

1. Place the dried mushrooms in a small bowl and cover with 1 cup boiling water. Let sit for 30 minutes. Remove the mushrooms from the soaking liquid. Pour the liquid through a coffee filter or a double layer of paper towels in a sieve (to catch the dirt from the dried mushrooms). Reserve both the mushrooms and the water.
2. Heat a 12-inch sauté pan over high heat. Add the butter and when it begins to brown, add the softened dried mushrooms, the fresh mushrooms, and garlic. Sauté until the mushrooms begin to wilt and squeak, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the reserved mushroom water, oyster sauce, hot sauce, and sugar. Cook over high heat until all the moisture disappears. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.
4. Transfer the mixture to a food processor and process until smooth. Cut the cream cheese into bits and add it to the mushroom mixture along with 2-3 tablespoons of the herbs. Process until very smooth, adding salt and pepper to taste.
5. Line the bottom of a 6½ or 7-inch springform pan with parchment paper and butter the sides.
6. Transfer the pâté to the prepared pan, and press a layer of plastic wrap over the surface. Refrigerate.
Note: You can also put the pâté in a pretty bowl.
7. To serve, run a knife around the edge of the pan, remove the sides and bottom of the springform pan. Peel off the parchment paper by flipping the pâté on to your hand, paper side up. Then flip the pâté right side up onto a flat serving plate. Decorate with the reserved herbs and the flowers. Serve chilled or at room temperature with crackers, baguette slices, or crostini.

Serves 6-12
Adapted from Hugh Carpenter and Teri Sandison’s Fast Appetizers