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Easy Lo Mai Fan (Cantonese sticky rice)

Cantonese sticky fried rice with Lap Cheong and cured pork belly, topped with cilantro leaves
I'm a sucker for stir-fried rices. Easy, quick, delicious and healthy, it also perfumes your whole house ; what's not to love ? I wanted to dig a tad deeper past the classic egg fried rice that we all know and love. I recently found out about this flavour bomb of a stir-fry, called Lo Mai Fan. It's a Cantonese type of fried rice ; originating from a region where glutinous rice is a staple, the dish is a symbol of unity and family, commonly eaten during celebrations and dim sum meals. This version is not perfectly authentic, as I didn't want my rice to be as sticky as it is in traditional Lo Mai Fan. It is quite sticky though, since it uses sticky rice instead of jasmine rice (which is usually your go-to for most Chinese stir-fried rices). Ingredients-wise, though, it's typically what you'd find a true Lo Mai Fan ! What makes this rice special is the inclusion of 4 concentrated flavour bombs : cured pork belly, cured chinese sausage (Lap Cheong), dried shrimps and dried Shiitake. Good news is, you don't even need much of each, making it a cheap-as-hell and quite light meal ! I was so pleasantly surprised to see how delicate the flavour harmony was. The dried ingredients are strong indeed, especially cured pork, but in such small quantities, they do not overpower the final taste, with a nice added freshness and aroma from the green onions and cilantro.

Easy Lo Mai Fan - Recipe

Ingredients - Where to find them

I'd advise you to visit a large, well-stocked Asian store to find the necessary ingredients for this recipe, in particular for :
  • the Lap Cheong (chinese sausage), which should look like this :Chinese Sausage, Chinese Food, Dachshund, Sausage PNG Transparent Image and Clipart for Free Download
  • and cured pork belly :Food for Thought: Take the five-day cure for pork belly | KNKX Public Radio
It will still be delicious if you can only find one of those products, but I'd advise against making this recipe if you can't find either.

Recipe - Advice & key points

  • I chose to make the rice ahead, because this ends with a drier, firmer texture I like better for fried rices -and it's still a bit sticky from the sticky rice used. However, a more authentic version of this dish would be to cook it right before it's made. Feel free to try one or the other depending on your personal prefrence !   
  • Make sure to get your wok hot enough so that you don't end up with an overly oily fried rice.
  • If you don't own a seasoned carbon-steel wok and only have a nonstick wok or nonstick pan, it's OK. You'll just have to preheat it well for a few minutes ; also use 1/2 the amount of oil indicated ; and cook the ingredients a bit longer, especially the rice, until it caramelizes a little.
  • This recipe yields enough fried rice for 2 large portions as mains, and 3 portions as sides with other Chinese dishes such as dumplings, stir-fried veggies, etc.
All set ? Let's fry some damn good rice !
Cooking Method
Cuisine ,
Courses , , ,
Difficulty Beginner
Time
Prep Time: 20 min Cook Time: 10 min Total Time: 30 mins
Servings 2
Best Season Suitable throughout the year
Description

An aromatic fried-rice, quite healthy but still indulging, relying on small amounts of dried flavour bombs : pork, shrimps and shiitake.   

Ingredients
  • 1/2 Chinese sausage (~40g per sausage)
  • 25 grams cured pork belly (minced)
  • 5 dried shiitake mushrooms (rehydrated and minced)
  • 15 grams dried shrimp (rehydrated)
  • 3 green onions (chopped thinly)
  • 1 large handful cilantro (chopped)
  • 70 grams dry jasmine rice (that you cooked the day before)
  • 150 grams dry glutinous rice (that you cooked the day before)
  • 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
Instructions
    Instructions
  1. The day before : rice !

    The day before, after washing it around 5 times, cook your rice in a rice cooker or pot. 

  2. Prep your ingredients

    Seperately soak you dried shrimp and your dried shiitake in warm water for 15mn.

    Meanwhile, mince your garlic, chop your cilantro, and thinly chop your green onion.

    Thinly dice your pork belly & sausage ; slice lengthwise first, then crosswise.

    When the shiitakes are rehydrated, dice them thinly, too.

  3. Stir-fry time !

    Put your wok on medium-high heat. Add 2 tbsp neutral oil. 

    Add garlic and stir-fry for a few seconds until fragrant. 

    Add shrimp ; stir-fry 10 seconds. 

    Add Chinese sausauge and pork belly ; stir-fry 30 seconds. 

    Add shiitakes ; stir-fry 1 minute.*

    Add rice, and stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes. 

    When it smells nice, turn your heat down to medium-low and add your light & dark soy sauce. Mix everything nicely for 2 to 3 minutes with a spatula, breaking down clumps if any. 

    Finally, add your green onion and turn off the heat. Mix everything properly before plating up. 

    Top with cilantro. 

    Et voilà !! You're done ! 

    When your mushrooms are done cooking, you can set aside ~2 tablespoons of the mushroom-pork-shrimp mixture to top your fried rice when plating it up (before adding cilantro). It will make for a nicer presentation.
  4. Prep your ingredients !
Keywords: home made, Lo Mai Fan, fried rice, Cantonese fried rice, Chinese fried rice, healthy, authentic Chinese food, Lap Cheong, cured pork belly, soy sauce
Read it online: https://multicarbs.com/recipe/easy-lo-mai-fan-cantonese-sticky-rice/

Thank you for trying out this recipe ! Do not hesitate to leave some feedback. I hope it brightened your day.