Stir-Fried Sticky Rice 生炒糯米飯 (shēng chǎo nuò mǐ fàn) is a Cantonese dish that is most popular during autumn and winter. In Chinese herbology, sticky rice or glutinous rice is good for digestion, warming the body and nourishing blood. When autumn arrives, eating Stir-Fried Sticky Rice 生炒糯米飯 is a tradition that can help the body stay warm during the cold months.
My first memory of Stir-Fried Sticky Rice 生炒糯米飯 is in Hong Kong when I was very little. I remember being at the Hong Kong and Macau Ferry Terminal 港澳碼頭 in Hong Kong. A mouth-watering aroma was coming from a little cart about a block away. My dad said it was Stir-Fried Sticky Rice 生炒糯米飯. I really wanted to try some but my parents wouldn’t let me saying that I could get hepatitis or something. I remember watching very fortunate people eat it out of paper bags! Only when I was in my twenties that I actually tried this dish at a restaurant. But I’ve never been able to find the same scent again. Maybe the salt water by the pier made it especially aromatic.
Through the years, my mom makes her version of it now and again. She basically stir-fries everything except the rice and then mixes it with the glutinous rice she made in the rice cooker. It’s not bad but the aroma and the texture of the rice is so much better when the rice is fried in the raw state.
I have tried many times to make this, using different methods. Then I quit making it for a while because I just couldn’t get the texture I want. To me, I would like it al dente but not chewy. The rice should not stick together much which is the most challenging part of making this dish since it is “sticky rice”.
One day last week, I suddenly had an idea of how I could make it. I think a lot of people including myself just complicated the process. Perhaps that’s how it’s traditionally made. But I am constantly thinking about ways to simplify steps without compromising taste and texture. I feel I succeeded! My team of “professional” taste testers (my family) think so too! Don’t get me wrong, a lot of people can use the traditional process and make it well. Unfortunately, I am not one of those people. So I needed to come up with something easier.
In my Stir-Fried Sticky Rice 生炒糯米飯 recipe, I’ll show you how to simplify the cooking process while stir-frying the rice from a raw state. I’ll also show you how to make this dish if you’re the more spontaneous type who doesn’t have 4 hours to soak the rice.
Prepare for La Niña this winter by making this dish for your family to warm their bellies!
Looking for more Hong Kong style recipes? Check out my Hong Kong Cafe recipe section. I highly recommend the Hong Kong Style Borscht with Oxtail 牛尾羅宋湯, it's one of my favourite soups!
Stir-Fried Sticky Rice 生炒糯米飯
Ingredients
- 400 g Glutinous rice (long or short grain)
- 20 g Dried scallops
- 30 g Dried shiitake mushrooms
- 10 g Dried shrimp
- 80 g Pork belly
- 2 Chinese preserved sausages
- 2 Eggs
- 4 stalks Green onions
- 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- 2 tsp Oil for frying egg
- 2 tbsp Oil for adding to rice
- 2 tbsp Oil
- 200 ml Water from soaking water
- ½ tsp Sugar
- 1 tbsp Oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp Dark soy sauce
- ¼ tsp White pepper powder
- ¼ tsp Sugar
- ½ tsp Light soy sauce
- 50 g Salted fried peanuts
Ingredients for pork belly marinade:
- ¼ tsp Sugar
- ½ tsp Light soy sauce
- ½ tsp Shaoxing wine
- ½ tsp Corn starch
Instructions
- Soak dried scallops and shiitake mushrooms over-night or for approx. 3 hours. Save the soaking water
- Soak glutinous rice for 4 hours
Try not to soak the rice for more than 5 hours because it will be too soft and will break apart during frying 
- Soak dried shrimp for 1 hour. Save the soaking water
- Dice pork belly and marinate with ¼ tsp sugar, ½ tsp light soy sauce, ½ tsp Shaoxing wine and ½ tsp corn starch. Mix well and set aside
- Blanche 2 Chinese preserved sausages then dice.
I bought the ones sold in bulk (they hang on the walls) at a Chinese butcher shop so I boiled them in water for a minute to clean off the dust before dicing. I used one pork sausage and one liver sausage - Dice shiitake mushrooms and dried shrimp.
- Shred the scallops
- Chop green onions
- After 4 hours, pour the glutinous rice into a sieve, rinse with water to remove the excess starch and leave to dry for preferably 1 hour or roughly blot dry with a paper towel
- Add 2 tbsp oil to the rice and mix well
- In a measuring cup, add the soaking water from the dried shrimp and scallops. Then add the shiitake soaking water to get 200 ml. If all the soaking water does not reach 200 ml, then add water to make the difference. Add 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine and set aside
- Heat wok or pan to medium heat. Add 2 tbsp oil
- Beat 2 eggs. Use a wok or pan to fry the egg.
- Cut the fried egg into thin pieces and set aside
- Add pork belly and stir-fry until lightly toasted
- One at a time, add sausage, dried scallops, dried shrimp and shiitake mushrooms in one minute intervals so that the heat in the wok does not cool down too much
- Turn heat down to low. Add 1 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, ¼ tsp white pepper powder and ¼ tsp sugar into the wok. Mix well
- Add glutinous rice. Stir-fry until mixed well
- Cover with lid. Pour 1/3 of the water mixture onto the lid all around the wok to allow the water to seep into the edge of the wok If this doesn’t work on your wok or pan, then drizzle the water around the edge of your wok or pan. Try not to add the water directly on the rice. Time for 5 minutes
- Open the lid and stir-fry for 30 seconds
- Repeat steps 19 and 20 two more times until all the water mixture is used
- The rice should be fully cooked. If it’s not, add 2 more tbsp of water, cover with the lid for another 5 minutes.
Different brands of glutinous rice may vary in water absorption properties so you may need to experiment with the amount of water to add. I have used this recipe with both long grain and short grain glutinous rice and have found the results consistent - Taste test. Add soy sauce to make adjustments. I added ½ tsp light soy sauce to mine. Mix well
- Add ¾ of the green onions and ¾ of the shredded egg. Mix well.
- In a bowl, add peanuts and egg on the bottom
- Pack-in the sticky rice. Place a serving plate on top of the bowl, turn over and remove the bowl
- Sprinkle with the remaining green onions
- Serve
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