Cantonese Steamed Glutinous Rice with Chicken (Lo Mai Kai)

糯米鸡

My late mother-in-law used to prepare this dish for our breakfast. 

Ingredients (makes 8 bowls):

4 cups (580g) glutinous rice

500g chicken meat (from thigh, breast, drumstick)

2 pieces of dried shiitake mushrooms

3 pieces of dried scallops (optional)

3 cloves garlic

Marinade for rice:

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

1 teaspoon dark soy sauce

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

Marinade for chicken (can include pork belly):

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon sesame oil

dashes of white pepper

2 teaspoon corn flour

Method:

1. Soak glutinous rice for 4 hours. Drain thereafter and marinate rice. Discard the soaking liquid.

2. Soak mushroom for 1 hour to re-hydrate, squeeze out water from the mushrooms and cut into small pieces. Retain the soaking liquid. Soak the scallops too if using, and similarly retain the soaking liquid for use later. 

3. Marinade chicken for 1 hour.

4. Mince garlic and fry until fragrant. Add the rice and stir fry for 1 minute under low heat. Set aside.

5. Top up the water for soaking mushrooms (and scallops) with more water to make up 250ml. 

6. Place chicken, mushroom and scallop (if using) into the bottom of individual bowl. Fill up the bowl (to 3/4 full) with glutinous rice and use the back of the spoon to gently press down the rice. Add 2 tablespoons of water (from step 5) into each bowl until water almost cover the top of the rice.

7. Steam the glutinous rice bowls under medium-high heat for 1 hour. Check water in the steamer and top up water accordingly.

8. Invert the bowls to turn over the rice onto a plate. Best serve hot!

Chicken Pot Pie

 

Crispy, flaky crust chicken pot pie is our family's comfort food.

Ingredients:

Chicken Filling

1 chicken (around 1 kg, which yields 460g meat) or 4 chicken thighs)

2 medium size potatoes (320g)

1 carrot (140g)

half large onion

2 cloves garlic

Short Crust Pastry (for 9" pie)

270g plain flour 

150 cold butter

1 egg yolk (18g)

50ml cold water

1/4 teaspoon salt

Method:

A. Chicken Filling

1. Debone chicken. Marinade with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 3/4 teaspoon salt and dashes of black pepper for 1 hour. Pan fry the chicken until it is cooked. Set aside to cool, then shred the meat.

2. Cut the potatoes and carrot into small cubes, boil in salted water until they are tender. Drain and set aside. Save the water for step 3 below.

3. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until fragrant. Add chicken, potatoes and carrot, and mix in. Add 2 teaspoon herbs (thyme, oregano, parsley, basil), 1 teaspoon paprika, and dashes of black pepper. Stir fry until combined. Add 2 tablespoons plain flour and stir to mix in evenly. Add 250ml water (from boiling potatoes and carrot) and 20g butter, and mix in. Simmer for 5 minutes, and it is done!

B. Short Crust Pastry

1. Sieve flour into mixing bowl and add salt. Mix them up.

2. Add butter and use fingertips to rub into flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. You can also use a dough cutter to cut the butter into the flour.

3. Combine egg yolk with cold water and pour into the flour mixture one tablespoon at a time, using a fork to combine gently. Stop adding water when the mixture forms clusters. Use your hands to gather the mixture gently to form a ball. Divide the ball into 2/3 (for pie crust) and 1/3 (for pie lid) and wrap them up individually with plastic wrap. Once wrapped, gently pressed the dough to make a disc (2cm thick), and chill in the fridge for at least one hour. Dough weight: 486g.

4. Place a silicon mat on work surface, and lightly flour the mat. Remove the dough from fridge and place it on the mat. Place a piece of plastic on the dough and roll the dough to fit the pie/tart pan. Gently transfer the dough into the pie/tart pan. Press the dough into the pan and trim off the excess dough from the edge. Prick the base with a fork. Chill the dough in fridge for at least 15 minutes. 

5. Preheat oven to 170 deg celsius. Place pie weights into the dough. Bake the pie crust for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

6. Roll out the remaining 1/3 dough to make pie lid. You can cut the dough into strips to create lattice pattern. Chill in fridge.

C. Assemble

1. Spoon filling into the pie. 

2. Remove the pie lid from the fridge and cover the pie. Use a fork to gently press the edge to make a good seal. Make some cuts on the surface of the lid to help release steam during baking. Brush the pie lid with egg wash.

3. Bake at 170 deg celsius for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

4. Transfer the pie to wire rack for a few minutes before serving.

Creamy Mushroom Pasta

 

This recipe serves 2.

Ingredients:

90g brown button mushrooms, thinly sliced

100g heavy cream

15g parmesan cheese

2 garlic cloves, diced/thinly sliced

2 shallots, diced

Pinch of salt

Dashes of black pepper

Dashes of oregano

Method:

1. Melt butter and olive oil, saute garlic and shallots until fragrant.

2. Add mushrooms and mix in. Cook for 6-7minutes, stirring frequently. The mushrooms will release some liquid. Add a pinch of salt

3. Pour 1 tablespoon white wine to deglaze the pan and cook for 1 minute.

4. Add herbs and stir in.

5. Add heavy cream and bring to boil. Then simmer for 10 minutes, stiring frequently, until sauce has reduced to about half. Turn off heat, season with salt and black pepper.

6. Serve hot with pasta.