Lo Mai Gai (Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf)
The dim sum steamer's most complete parcel and the glutinous rice's own showpiece: the sticky rice's savoury crown — the chicken, the mushroom, the sausage's whole dim sum filling's argument — wrapped to the lotus leaf's neat parcel and steamed to the leaf's perfume and the rice's glossy chew, the lo mai gai the trolley's most satisfying single package. The technique is the rice's soaked-steam prep and the leaf's wrap, the parcel's whole argument at the dim sum steamer's patience.
Quantities live in the recipe card.
The rice
The filling (the dim sum crown)
- the filling's barest cling
The wrap and the steam
- The rice's pre-steam (the parcel's whole engineering): the soaked glutinous rice steamed 20 minutes at the rolling steam to the barely-tender, translucent grain (the rice's own pre-cook — the filling's moisture the mere finishing, and the raw rice's parcel the hard-centred certain end) — the hot rice tossed at the sauce's half (the soys' and the sugar's flavour through the grain's own surface).
- The filling's stir-fry and the leaf's soak: the filling's elements wok-fried at the brief 3-minute argument (the chicken's colour, the sausage's render, the mushroom's perfume — the sauce's and the cornstarch's cling at the finish), and the lotus leaves soaked to the pliable, rinsed and the stem's centre trimmed.
Doneness & Quality Checkpoints
- The rice: the 4-hour soak, the 20-minute pre-steam, the sauce's surface-seasoning.
- The parcel: the leaf's pliable soak, the folded enclosure, the flat, steamer-fit architecture.
- The steam: the rolling 25 minutes, the perfume's release, the grain's glossy finish.
Finish & Plate
The parcels served whole at the steamer's basket — the diner's own unfolding the ceremony's argument, the leaf's perfume the table's first announcement — the tea at the side the dim sum hour's own frame.
Lo Mai Gai (Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf)
Prep: 50 minutes, plus 4 hours rice soaking · Cook: 35 minutes · Total: About 2 hours 30 minutes (plus soaking) · Makes 6 parcels
Ingredients
The rice
- 300 g glutinous rice, soaked 4 hours (or overnight) and drained
The filling (the dim sum crown)
- 250 g chicken thigh, diced to 1 cm
- 50 g Chinese sausage (lap cheong), diced; 6 dried shiitake, soaked and diced (the soaking water's reserve)
- 3 dried shrimp, soaked and chopped (optional)
- 1 tbsp (10 g) shallot or onion, minced
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) light soy, 1 tbsp (15 ml) oyster sauce, 1 tsp (5 ml) dark soy, 1 tsp (5 g) sugar, ½ tsp (2 g) salt, the white pepper's pinch
- ½ tsp (2 g) cornstarch — the filling's barest cling
The wrap and the steam
- 6 dried lotus leaves, soaked until pliable (the 30-minute warm water's patience), the hard stem's trim
- A steamer at the rolling 100 °C steam; the parcels' 25-minute argument
Instructions
- The parcel's build — the leaf's oiled centre and the layered dome. Each leaf's shiny face oiled lightly and laid to the palm's shallow bowl: the sauced rice's half-scoop at the centre's bed, the filling's crown at the rice's heart, and the remaining rice's dome over — the leaf's four corners folded to the flat, neat parcel (the square's own argument, the seam's underside), the string's or the leaf's own strip's tie at the honest keep. Checkpoint — each parcel runs the compact, even package (the rice's dome fully enclosed at the leaf's every fold — the exposed rice's steam's dryness the certain end) and the parcel's flat architecture the steamer's honest fit.
- The steam — 25 minutes at the rolling patience. The parcels set to the steamer's rolling 100 °C steam (the single layer's room), and steamed 25 minutes undisturbed — the leaf's perfume's rising argument and the rice's glossy finishing at the parcel's captured steam. Checkpoint — at the 25-minute mark: the parcel's opening at the table's moment releases the lotus's earthy perfume and the steam's cloud — the rice runs the glossy, separate-tender chew (the pre-steam's grain and the filling's moisture's finish) fully seasoned to the grain's own heart.
- The table's opening — the parcel's own ceremony. The parcel opened at the diner's own hands (the leaf's corners' unfold the dish's own theatre), the rice's dome broken and the filling's crown mixed through at the first chopsticks' argument. Checkpoint — the eating test: the rice's glossy, savoury chew (the leaf's faint, earthy perfume the whole package's signature) with the filling's chicken-and-mushroom crown at the dome's heart — the dim sum trolley's most complete package at the home steamer's own ceremony.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Rice's centre hard at the parcel | The pre-steam's stage skipped | The 20-minute pre-steam — the glutinous canon's law |
| Parcel's rice dry at the opening | The exposed rice's escape, or the steam's mercy | The full enclosure's fold; the rolling 100 °C patience |
| Perfume's argument absent | The leaf's substitute, or the leaf's stale age | The lotus's own leaf (the banana's nearest honesty); the fresh-dried pack's date |
Storage, Make-Ahead & Variations
- The parcels keep 2 days refrigerated (the re-steam's 12 minutes the fair second basket) and freeze 1 month (the re-steam's 30 minutes from the frozen parcel's argument) — the make-ahead the dim sum freezer's own speed. - The filling's variations run the pork's and the shrimp's richer arguments at the identical rice's law; the leaf-less version (the bowl's steam, the "pudding" argument) the home kitchen's honest shortcut at the same flavours. The #112 duck's stuffing and the #121 tang yuan's glutinous cousins the one flour's wider family at the canon's other seats. - The canon's seat: the dim sum canon's parcel master — the pre-steamed grain and the lotus's perfume — at the trolley's most complete single seat.