Fried glutinous rice is a Cantonese dish. It may be made with glutinous rice that's cooked or raw. The raw version, when it's done right, is more fragrant, more chewy, and not sticky at all. It's like regular fried non-glutinous rice, but better.
Stir-frying raw glutinous rice requires some patience. Water must be added to the rice a little at a time.
Too much water in one go would result in an excessive amount of starch leaking out of the rice. Starch + water + heat = sticky mess. You don't want that, trust me.
After water is added, you have to stir-fry continuously till it's absorbed by the rice. You then add a bit more water, and stir-fry again. The cycle goes on for about 15 minutes.
You can add anything you like to fried glutinous rice. The classic choices are dried prawns, dried mushrooms, lap cheong (Chinese sausage), peanuts, and eggs. A good cook would strike a perfect balance between the rice and additional ingredients. Neither overwhelms the other.
When you're eating fried glutinous rice, chew it thoroughly to savour the texture and aroma. Your jaws should get a good workout!
Glutinous rice may be stir-fried after or before it's cooked. This recipe is for the latter. Water must be added to raw glutinous rice a little at a time whilst stir-frying continuously. If you add too much water in one go, or if your stir-frying slacks off, the rice would clump together into a big sticky ball.
INGREDIENTS
INSTRUCTIONS
INGREDIENTS
- 320 g glutinous rice – rinse thoroughly, add enough water to cover by 1 cm, wait 3 hours, drain thoroughly
- 8 medium size Chinese dried mushrooms, 35 g – wash; soak in 120 ml water till soft, 30 minutes or longer; squeeze dry, reserving water; cut into 1-cm dice (stalks may be frozen, then used to make stock)
- 20 g dried prawns – wash; soak in 2 tbsp water till soft, 30 minutes or longer; squeeze dry, reserving water
- 100 g pork shoulder butt – wash and cut into 1-cm dice; marinate 15 minutes or longer with 1 tsp each of light soya sauce, Shaoxing wine and egg
- 2 eggs (use 1 tsp for marinating pork) – beat with dash of ground white pepper, pinch of sugar, 1 tsp light soya sauce and 1 tsp Shaoxing wine
- 1½ tbsp oil from deep-frying shallots, or white sesame oil
- 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup water
- 1½ tbsp oyster sauce
- 3 tbsp deep-fried shallots
- 3 tbsp roughly chopped spring onions
- ground white pepper to taste
- ½ tsp toasted white sesame seeds
INSTRUCTIONS
- Prep ingredients as detailed above.
- In a well-seasoned or non-stick wok, make a thin omelette with eggs using ½ tbsp oil. Chop roughly (just jab violently with your spatula when omelette is almost done, as if it's your boss/mother-in-law). Set aside.
- Add remaining 1 tbsp oil to the wok. Stir-fry dried prawns over high heat till lightly golden. Add mushrooms and stir-fry till fragrant. Add pork and marinade. Stir-fry till wok is very hot. Drizzle with 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine. Stir till absorbed. Sprinkle with salt and stir through.
- Add rice and stir through again. Drizzle with water used for soaking mushrooms. Stir till absorbed. Drizzle with water used for soaking dried prawns. Repeat stirring as before. Add water 2 tbsp at a time, stir-frying till absorbed after each addition. Rice should be cooked after adding ½ cup water, which should take about 10 minutes.
- Taste to check if rice is cooked. If it isn't or if it's too hard, add more water and stir-fry a few more minutes. Add oyster sauce and mix thoroughly. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Turn off heat. Sprinkle with half of omelette, deep-fried shallots, and spring onions. Add ground white pepper to taste. Mix through.
- Plate and sprinkle with sesame seeds, remaining omelette, shallots and spring onions. Serve immediately.
