Lotus Leaf Rice

Righto. Recipe time.

One of our favourites when we meet up for Yum Cha. My version features chicken, lup cheong, lotus seeds and shiitake mushrooms.

Lotus Leaf Rice

Serves eight (or four really greedy people)

500g sticky rice, soaked for 2 hours then drained

500ml water

2 tsp salt

4 lotus leaves, soaked until pliable

300 g diced chicken fillet

8 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked, then quartered

1 small lup cheong (chinese sausage)

4 tbspn oil

4 big cloves garlic, crushed

4 tbspn oyster sauce 

1 tsp ground black pepper

2 tbspn sesame oil

6 tbspn water

40 dried lotus seeds, soaked

Put the soaked rice in a steamer, add water and salt and steam until cooked (I do mine in a rice cooker and it takes about 20 minutes). Cool.

Heat the vegetable oil in a wok, fry the garlic, then add the chicken and stir fry for a couple of minutes. Add the sausage, mushrooms, oyster sauce, lotus seeds, pepper, sesame oil and water and stir until chicken is cooked through and sauce reduced slightly. 

Gently squeeze excess water from leaves and lay flat. Divide rice in to four and place on each of the leaves, flattening with damp hands. Top with chicken and mushroom mix.

Firmly fold the leaves in, making a parcel.

Kind of like this.

Place in a bamboo steamer, and steam for roughly five minutes, or until heated through.

Slice open, and serve.