glutinous rice

Hakka Rice Wine

October 28, 2015 by Ho Lang

Hakka Rice Wine

There comes a time in the journey of home cook that you begin a search for your own ingredients. My food adventures has brought me to connect with many like-minded home cooks and it seems many home cooks actually make their own rice wine. Don’t be distracted by the censored image above. It is there for a purpose.

So it seems it takes about a month to complete the entire fermentation process and the rule of thumb for newbies is to start small. Don’t grab any old recipe and dive straight into a micro brewery business in your toilet. Start off with personal consumption as it is the golden rule.

If it works then you can continue to make for your friends if you like.

There are some taboos though. It seems if you are going to make this rice wine, you must not utter any noise or sound. If you do, the wine will ferment badly and you would have to throw the entire batch out and start all over again.

So I thought I would try. And see if it is that easy as they say.

Let’s try it. If it works, and after a month of fermentation, you will find a nice bottle of rice wine. Since I am Hakka, it will be Hakka Rice Wine.

Recipe

Ingredients

2 kg Glutinous Rice
1 portion of 红 something something (bah.. I forgot the name.. The aunty that shared her recipe didn’t know what it was either and neither did I know what she was saying..)
2 pieces of 酒饼 (apparently you can get it at the Chinese medicinal shop.. Incidentally you can also get the portion of 红 something something from the same medicinal shop.. Just ask the herb concoctionist.)
1 bottle of 白酒 (this is something like a guarantee to make the magic work..)

Method

1. Steam the glutinous rice until cook. Or you can cook it in the rice cooker. But dont forget it is 2 whopping kilograms of glutinous rice.

2. Once steamed or cooked. Spread it out on a large round plate to cool down completely. Make sure it is completely cool.

3. While that is being done, ground the 红 something something into fine powder and then mix it into the glutinous rice. Then crush the 2 pieces of 酒饼 and scatter it into the glutinous rice. Give it a good mix.

4. Put the glutinous rice mix into a container, glass is best. Corning ware has a nice glass casserole dish with cover that you could use.

5. Pour in the 白酒 and close the lid. Some people say no need the 白酒, but who knows until you try making two batches one with and one without.

6. Once you are done, wrap up the container in aluminium foil and label it so that you know when to open it up again. All the best!

Bon Appetit!

February 5, 2015 by Ho Lang

Glutinous Rice

Glutinous Rice

My wife’s friend used to bring delicious glutinous rice made by her mother and everytime her mum made it, we would get to taste some. It was the most delicious glutinous rice dish ever and I swore to myself quietly that one day I too would try to make the most delicious glutinous rice dish.

And that day is today. The inspiration to cook delicious glutinous rice struck me this morning on the way to work and I knew that I cannot escape not making it.

So here, this is my first attempt at making delicious glutinous rice. I know it will be delicious. I tried it. And true enough, it is delicious.

Recipe

Ingredients

400 grams Glutinous Rice (soaked and drained)
60 grams Dried Shrimps (also soaked and drained but in hot water)
6 pcs Dried Shitake Mushrooms (soaked in hot water, then sliced thinly)
4 pcs Garlic (minced)
4 tsp Light Soy Sauce
2 tsp Dark Soy Sauce
2 tsp Oyster Sauce
2 tsp Hakka Rice Wine
Half bowl of Water
White Pepper
Sesame Seed Oil (drizzle)
Olive Oil

Optional

Meat from 1 Chicken Thigh or;
100 grams of Pork Belly

Method

1. Heat olive oil in pan, then when oil is sufficiently heated, fry garlic, mushrooms and dried shrimp until fragrant (add chicken or pork belly if you like). After that’s done, throw in the drained glutinous rice. Some say the longer you soak, the better it is. I soaked maybe 10-15 minutes, you can soak overnight if you like.

2. Fry the glutinous rice over medium heat for a while and combine ingredients. Then add the pre-mixed sauces (which you would have already mixed in a separate bowl) into the frying pan and give it a good stir fry until all the ingredients are covered with the sauce. Continue frying for another 5-8 minutes. Once sufficiently fried, drizzle a thin layer of sesame seed oil over the rice. Powder the white pepper over and give it a good mix.

3. Next scoop the rice into a large bowl or round metal pan. Flatten it nicely. Wet the rice with water, I pour about half a bowl of water into mine. After that, steam the glutinous rice over high heat for about 45 minutes. The rice should be softened by then, if not, add more water and continue to steam at high heat. Do a taste test and if the rice is too dry, wet the rice with a little more water. The end result should be soft fluffy, sticky delicious glutinous rice.

Bon Appetit!

Soak Glutinous Rice

Dried Shrimp

Dried Shitake Mushrooms

Compacted Glutinous Rice