Lotus Leaf Glutinous Rice Chicken (珍珠雞)
the easier dim sum item you can make at home!
we recently hosted Chef Vicky Lee, the Chef-Owner of Ayah Dim Sum in our kitchen where she taught us through the steps of making a POPULAR Hong Kong-style Dim Sum.
Jan Jyu Gai (珍珠雞), or simply the SMALLER version of Lor Mai Gai (糯米雞) is very commonly found in dim sum restaurants. while locally, you might find the mass made version steamed in aluminium cups, in Hong Kong it is traditionally steamed in a parcel of dried lotus leaf which gives rice a smoky, earthy and almost herbal fragrance. Chef Vicky ‘halal-ifies’ this by using chicken fat to add aroma and umami, instead of the traditional pork lard.
we found the end result of this dish to be so satisfying, essentially becoming a complete meal on its own. Chef Vicky also recommends making these in big batches and freezing the parcels for when you want to eat them the next time. she suggests that you can simply re-steam them on high heat for 20 minutes before enjoying.
we look forward to making these again for our team lunches and we hope you too will try making some at home!
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Lotus Leaf Glutinous Rice (珍珠雞)
(makes 10 parcels)
10 pcs dried lotus leaves, soaked in hot water for 1 hour
5 salted egg yolks, pre-steamed for 15 minutes
seasoned glutinous rice:
500g uncooked glutinous rice, soaked for at least 3 hours
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp chicken seasoning powder
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp chicken fat (see Tori Paitan post to see recipe)
2 tsp sesame oil
1.5 tbsp fried shallots in oil
dash of white pepper
1/2 cup boiling water
chicken filling:
2 tbsp chicken fat
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp fried shallots
5 dried shiitake, soaked in 200ml water and then sliced (reserve soaking water)
2 large boneless, skinless chicken legs
80g dried shrimp, soaked for 10 minutes and finely chopped
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chicken seasoning powder
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp oyster sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp dark soy sauce
200ml water
dash of white pepper
1 tsp potato starch + 1 tbsp water
directions
making the filling
lay the chicken meat on a cutting board and slice into smaller pieces. then, using a cleaver or a heavy knife, mince the chicken into coarse pieces. manually ‘minced’ chicken makes for a better texture as compared to store-bought minced chicken where the texture is too fine. set chicken aside.
in a pan, heat chicken fat on medium heat. sauté garlic until fragrant. then, add the fried shallots and soaked mushrooms and saute for another minute.
add in the minced chicken and stir-fry for 3 minutes. then, pour in chicken seasoning, sugar, oyster sauce, sesame oil, dark soy sauce, dried shrimp, mushroom water, pepper and salt. cover and let the chicken absorb the seasonings for another 2 minutes.
remove lid and add potato starch diluted in water. stir well and until the chicken filling liquid becomes a saucy consistency.
set aside the chicken filling cool to room temperature.
preparing the glutinous rice
lay a cheesecloth on a steaming rack on top of boiling water and arrange soaked glutinous rice. steam the rice on medium heat for 1 hour, mixing it halfway. set the cooked glutinous rice aside in a bowl
in a bowl, mix well ALL the ingredients for the glutinous rice (except for the rice itself).
fold int this mixture onto the hot glutinous rice and mix well to make sure the seasonings permeate into all the rice grains.
set aside to cool to room temperature
rolling the lotus leaf wraps
to assemble, fold in a piece of lotus leaf into a semi circle with the folded side facing towards you.
arrange a flat portion of seasoned glutinous rice (around 30 grams) to the centre. spoon over about a tablespoon of chicken filling and arrange half an salted egg yolk on top. cover the chicken filling with another layer of glutinous rice, covering the chicken filling totally.
fold the left and right sides of the leaf inwards and roll the lotus leaves frontwards, like a spring roll. set the Lor Mai Gai roll aside.
repeat until you’ve finished all the fillings and rice. heat a pot with a steamer rack on high heat. place the glutinous rice rolls onto the rack and steam for 20 minutes.
let the rolls cool slightly before unravelling them!
here are other dim sum recipes you can explore making too!:
Brillint breakdown on how chicken fat can carry that umami load when pork lard isn't an option. I always wondered how halal dim sum could replicate that rendered animal fat depth, and substituting like-for-like fat soucres instead of leaning on gums or starches makes way more sense. Once made lor mai gai with extra dried shrimp and I was suprised how much the brininess amplified everything without making it taste oceanic.