Chinese sticky rice with sausage known as lo mai fan in Chinese is an easy and comforting meal that I love to make in the rice cooker! You chop up all the ingredients (cured pork belly, dried shrimp, shiitake) and throw them in the rice cooker to cook. This recipe is perfect when you’re feeling a little tired and want to eat something delicious that reminds you of Chinese home cooking!
What is Chinese Sticky Rice?
Chinese Sticky Rice is a popular dish in Southern China such as Guangzhou and Hong Kong. You may have seen this dish at dim sum restaurants. Traditionally, they steam the rice and then sautee all the ingredients (various ingredients such as Chinese sausage, mushrooms, chicken, dried shrimp, and scallions) together in a large wok. The stir fry process makes the grains more chewy and the preserved meats become very fragrant.
The Chinese sausage, which is typically made from pork and flavored with soy sauce, adds a rich and salty flavor to the dish. When the Chinese sausage is cooked with the rice, the savory flavors are infused into the grains, which makes it so delicious! Chinese Sticky Rice is a delicious and satisfying dish that is a staple in Chinese cuisine.
Ingredients:
Here’s a look at what you need to make Chinese Sticky Rice at home. The highlights are here but the full ingredient list and quantities of each are in the recipe card.
Sticky Rice
- Sticky rice, also known as “Sweet Rice” or “Glutinous Rice” – chewy and sticky rice is what gives this dish such a nice texture. You have to use this rice to make this authentic dish.
- Jasmine rice – Mixing jasmine rice with sticky rice provides a nice texture and won’t make your rice too mushy.
- Shiitake mushrooms (I used dried and soaked them 1 hour prior to cooking)
- Chinese cured pork belly – also known as lap yok is chewy and fragrant preserved Chinese meat. You can find this at your local Chinese grocery store like 99 Ranch.
- Chinese sausage – also known as lap cheung in Chinese is juicy and gives lots of flavor to your rice!
- Dried shrimp – this shrimp is usually dehydrated and will need to be soaked in water before cooking the rice. You can find this at your local Chinese grocery store like 99 Ranch in the dried meats section.
- Dried Shiitake mushrooms – You can also use fresh ones if you have it. The dried ones have a chewier texture and are more cost effective. They provide umami and flavor to your rice.
- Chicken bouillon – Gives a nice savory and sweet flavor to the rice in addition to salt.
Garnish:
- Green onions – provides color and gives a fresh taste to the sticky rice.
- cilantro (optional)
- knorr soy sauce or regular soy sauce (to taste) – I love adding soy sauce for extra savoriness to the rice.
STEPS TO MAKE THE CHINESE STICKY RICE:
Soak Rice, Shrimp, & Mushroom for 1 Hour
Step 1. 1 hour before cooking: Soak dried shrimp and dried mushrooms in a bowl of room temperature water.
Step 2. Soak sticky rice and jasmine rice in water.
Prepare Meats and Rice
Step 3. Cut off the pork skin of the pork belly (if applicable). Then, cut the mushrooms, dried shrimp, sausage, pork belly in small pieces. Set aside.
Step 4. After soaking the rice, wash sweet sticky rice and jasmine rice under running water a few times until water runs clear. Make sure your strain all the water to ensure that you add the right amount of water in the next step.
Pro Tip: The water should barely cover the surface of the rice. We don’t need to add too much water because the meats will provide some moisture to the rice and we don’t want soggy rice.
Wash Rice
Step 5. Add ¾ cup water to the rice. Then, add all the cut ingredients: mushrooms, dried shrimp, sausage and pork belly. Mix together and place pot in rice cooker and press the ‘cook’ button!
Step 6. Once the rice is done, fluff it up and mix everything together. Garnish with soy sauce (to taste), green onions and cilantro (optional). Keep in rice cooker so it stays warm when you are eating. Hope you enjoy!
Note: I use the white rice setting in my Zojirushi rice cooker and it cooks the meats and rice perfectly!
Expert Tips
- If you use dried shiitake mushrooms, Pour out water from the shiitake mushrooms and squeeze dry. Trim off the stems of the mushroom. Let mushrooms dry.
- If you don’t like your meats on the chewier side, you can steam the Chinese preserved pork belly and sausage for 5 minutes in boiling water.
- I used the ‘white rice’ setting in my zojirushi rice cooker and it cooks the rice perfectly. You can use the regular cook setting as well!
- Using a combination of jasmine and sticky rice yields a very delicious rice texture. Not too sticky and the jasmine rice helps separate the grains more!
- the perfect proportion of water and ingredients is crucial to ensure that the rice is not overcooked and too mushy. Remember that the mushrooms and meat provide extra moisture to the rice when cooked ◡̈
Recipe FAQs
Chinese sticky rice is fragrant when cooked with preserved meats such as Chinese sausage, dried shrimp, and Chinese cured pork belly. To find these ingredients, check out your local Chinese grocery store (what to buy at 99 Ranch) to get these delicious preserved meats. You can find them in the refrigerated section of preserved meats or sometimes I see them in the freezer section!
Zojirushi rice cooker and it works great! I bought it at Costco 8 years ago and it’s still reliable to this day. The rice always comes out delicious! I recommend checking Costco if they have this brand or you can buy it on Amazon.
More Delicious Rice Recipes:
If you love rice cooker recipes, check out my Top 10 Best Rice Cooker Recipes.
- Golden Egg Fried Rice – make this delicious Chinese sausage rice!
- One Pot Thai Inspired Rice– super flavorful rice with peppers and meat inspired by thai flavors.
- One Pot Hainanese Chicken Rice – moist chicken with scallion ginger sauce mixed with rice
Chinese Sticky Rice
Ingredients
Soak in water 1 hour prior to cooking
- 3-4 dried shiitake mushrooms
- ¼ cup dried shrimp (25 grams)
- 1 cup sweet sticky rice*
- ¼ cup jasmine rice*
One Pot Sticky Rice
- 1 cup sweet sticky rice soaked in water from previous step
- ¼ cup jasmine rice soaked in water from previous step
- ¾ cup water
- 3-4 shiitake mushrooms chopped
- ¼ cup dried shrimp
- 1 strip chinese cured pork belly (50-80 grams)
- 1 chinese sausage (50 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon chicken bouillon optional
- ½ tablespoon neutral oil avocado or canola
garnish
- sliced green onions
- cilantro optional
- knorr soy sauce or regular soy sauce to taste
Instructions
- 1 hour before cooking: Soak dried shrimp and dried shiitake mushrooms in a bowl of room temperature water. In addition, soak sticky rice and jasmine rice in water.
- After soaking the mushrooms and shrimps, pour out the water and rinse 2-3 times. Set aside and get ready to chop ingredients.
- Cut off the pork skin of the pork belly (if applicable). Then, cut the mushrooms, dried shrimp, sausage, pork belly in small pieces. Set aside.
- After soaking the rice, wash sweet sticky rice and jasmine rice under running water a few times until water runs clear. Make sure your strain all the water to ensure that you add the right amount of water in the next step.
- Then, add ¾ cup water to the rice. Next, add mushrooms, dried shrimp, sausage and pork belly. Mix together and place pot in rice cooker and press the 'cook' button!Note: I use the white rice setting in my Zojirushi rice cooker and it cooks the meats and rice perfectly!
- Once the rice is done, fluff it up and mix everything together. Garnish with soy sauce (to taste), green onions and cilantro (optional). Keep in rice cooker so it stays warm when you are eating. Hope you enjoy!
Video
@cookwithdana chinese sticky rice on a nice sunday afternoon brings me back to childhood 😍 #chinesefood #foodtiktok #familyrecipes
♬ Christmas Tree (Inst.) – V
Notes
- If you use dried shiitake mushrooms, Pour out water from the shiitake mushrooms and squeeze dry. Trim off the stems of the mushroom. Let mushrooms dry.
- If you don’t like your meats on the chewier side, you can steam the Chinese preserved pork belly and sausage for 5 minutes in boiling water.
- Using a combination of jasmine and sticky rice yields a very delicious rice texture. Not too sticky and the jasmine rice helps separate the grains more!
- The perfect proportion of water and ingredients is crucial to ensure that the rice is not overcooked and too mushy. Remember that the mushrooms and meat provide extra moisture to the rice when cooked ◡̈
abby says
Hi Dana, found your videos on Instagram first and really love all your recipes! Just wanted to clarify – when you mention how many cups of rice to use, are you referring to standard “cups” or “rice cooker cups”?
Cook With Dana says
hello Abby! Thank you so much. I am using standard measuring “cups” ◡̈
Anita says
Hey Dana, just wanted to let you know 1 and 1/2 cup isn’t enough water to cook the rice in the rice cooker.
Cook With Dana says
Thank you Anita. Sorry about the confusion. The water amount is changed to 4 1/2 cups ◡̈