For a long time, Mama Lin made sticky rice in a rice cooker. A few years ago, she started steaming the sticky rice in a wok and has stuck to the steaming method ever since. She told me that sticky rice prepared in a rice cooker tends to be too mushy, particularly the rice sitting at the bottom of the rice cooker. When glutinous rice is steamed, the grains of rice remain separated but still retain a sticky quality. The recipe below outlines my mom’s cooking method for steamed sticky rice. If you are interested in learning how to cook instant pot sticky rice, check out my recipe here.
HOW TO COOK CHINESE STICKY RICE
SOAK GLUTINOUS RICE (SWEET RICE)
Most Chinese-style sticky rice recipes call for long-grain glutinous rice (sometimes called sweet rice). Although it looks similar to other types of long-grain white rice, glutinous rice is much more dense and requires a longer cooking time. That’s why you should soak the rice overnight before steaming it. Note that the glutinous rice used in this recipe is different from Japanese-style sweet rice, which is short-grain rice. The night before you make the dish, soak the rice in a large bowl. I don’t usually bother to rinse the rice since the soaking will rid the rice of some excess starch.
PREPARE FLAVORING BITS
My mom likes to steam the rice with shallots, dried shrimp, dried scallops, Chinese sausage, Chinese cured pork, and mixed vegetables. I’m calling all of these ingredients “flavoring bits.” Before you use the dried seafood in this recipe, soak them in water for at least 30 minutes to hydrate them. My mom likes to shred the scallops (see photo above) so that they can be distributed more evenly later on. Depending on the size of your scallops, you may need to soak them for 1 to 2 hours to get them to be soft enough to shred. Don’t worry if you can’t shred the scallops. They will soften completely once the rice is done steaming. Before steaming the sticky rice, Mama Lin will lightly sauté the flavoring bits. This opens up the aroma of the flavoring bits. Note that you don’t need to fully cook the seafood and meat at this stage. They’ll finish cooking during the steaming process. However, you will want to cook the mixed vegetables because they’ll be added to the cooked sticky rice at the end.
OPTION TO ADD TARO
For variety, Mama Lin sometimes cooks Chinese sticky rice with taro cubes. To prepare the taro, she sautés the taro cubes with shallots, and seasons them with five-spice powder and chicken bouillon powder. My mom loves adding a little chicken bouillon powder to her dishes for umami flavor. If you don’t have chicken bouillon powder, you can leave it out. Again, you don’t need to fully cook the taro at this stage; it’ll finish cooking along with the rice. You can usually find taro in Asian supermarkets. Make sure to buy large taro, ones that are at least 2 pounds (see photo above). You don’t want to buy the small furry taro (see photo below) for this recipe because they have a slimy texture. I also find the smaller taro to be more bland. You can always shred any leftover taro in a food processor and pan fry like hash browns with minced garlic and salt.
STEAM THE STICKY RICE
Mama Lin usually steams the sticky rice inside a large stainless-steel wok (see photo below). If you’re using a wok, you’ll want to place a steaming rack like this one so that the rice will be elevated when you’re steaming it. Lightly grease the pan and then spread the rice over the pan. Drizzle 1/3 cup of water over the rice. If you are cooking the rice with taro, spread the taro over the rice. Then, cover the rice (and taro) with the seafood and meat mixture. Fill a wok with about 2 inches of water and bring it to boil. Place a steaming rack in the center, then the pan with the rice, cover it, and steam the rice on medium-high heat for 25 minutes. If you are using a sauté pan, the only difference is that you’ll want to fill the pan with about 1 to 1.5 inches of water and bring that to boil. About 25 minutes into the cooking, flip over the rice so that it cooks evenly. You don’t need to flip it perfectly, as you can see in the photo below. Drizzle about 2 tablespoons of water around the perimeter of the pan. Before steaming the rice again, pour 2 cups of water in the wok or sauté pan to replenish the water that has evaporated. Steam the rice for another 5 to 10 minutes. The rice is done cooking if the grains of rice are soft in the center. Take the rice out of the pan, drizzle it with the soy sauce mixture, sprinkle the vegetables on top and mix everything together. The rice is now ready to serve!
WHAT TO EAT WITH STICKY RICE
Chinese Garlic Green BeansChinese Garlic Cucumber SaladPan-Fried Teriyaki Tofu
Note: This post was originally published on November 6, 2018. I have updated the post by modifying the recipe so that you can make it with or without the taro. I’ve also added photos and a new video!
