These days I’m making a LOT of sticky rice, one of my top 5 favorite mushy carbs. The whole thing has been made possible by a state of the art rice cooker D’s mom got us for the holidays. IT MAKES CAKE!? After living without one for going on eight years I thought I’d mastered the rice cooker-less life. I truly believed I’d done just fine without it, but what a diminished existence mine was! Because turns out I must have, absolutely need, cannot live without this appliance for everything, and especially noh mai fan.
I’ve tried noh mai fan a few ways so far, a classic version with dried shrimp, shiitake mushroom, lap cherng, and green onion. Then on another day, with all of the above with the addition of cubes of taro tossed in as well. And then tonight, with all of the above (minus the sausage), and the fattiest pieces leftover from a roast duck I’d bought for us last week. It was divine–the smokiness of the roasted duck mixed with the gentle earthy hug of taro. What’ll be attempt number four?
Cantonese Sticky Rice (Noh Mai Fan)
- 1 cup of sweet glutinous rice (Koda Farms, babyyy)
- 6-9 dried shiitake mushrooms
- 8 small dried shrimp
- 2 lap cherng
- 3 scallions
- 1/3 pound of fresh taro
- salt and white pepper, soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, sesame oil, oyster sauce
Two hours before cook time:
1. In a heatproof bowl, pour a couple cups of boiling water over dried shiitake mushrooms to revive them.
2. Wash your rice multiple times until the water runs clean, drain water, and then in a clean bowl cover rice with fresh water. Let sit. The rice will absorb the water!
When you’re ready to cook:
1. Chop mushrooms, reserving soaking liquid. Slice sausage into 1/2-centimeter thick slices–this stuff is cured, small bites of it are best. Mince green onion, separating the green from the white parts–you’ll use both. Skin and chop taro into 1-inch cubes. Rinse dried shrimp, then give them a rough chop.
2. Drain water from rice.
3. Heat a couple tablespoons of neutral oil over medium-high heat in a large pan. Add the chopped white portion of the scallions to the pan and stir until they soften a bit. Throw in mushrooms and stir. Throw in a few dashes of soy sauce, a tablespoon or so of Shaoxing cooking wine and oyster sauce, and a few drops of sesame oil. Toss in the sausage and keep stirring. Once your sausage slices start to curl up at their edges, toss in the taro cubes and keep stirring. You can add in more seasoning here as well. Once your taro browns a bit, add your pre-soaked rice. Pour in 1/3 of a cup or so of your soaking mushroom liquid. You don’t want to create a porridge or have liquid sloshing around, but you don’t want a dry fry either. You want to coat the rice kernels with the flavor and fat that’s in the pan, not unlike risotto. A few quick turns and off with the heat and grab your rice cooker bowl and pour it all in.
4. Fill your rice cooker bowl with water until it just covers the mixed contents in it. Close the lid, press whatever buttons you need to and let the rice cooker do its thing.
5. Once it’s ready, garnish with the green parts of your scallions. Color and crunch! Savory glutinous rice heaven.