Sticky Rice Rolls with Cured Meat
A Simple Exterior Hides Wonderful Flavors
One of the most well-known traditional Cantonese-style dim sum, sticky rice rolls with cured meat may look plain on the outside, but are stuffed full of many rich flavors. Sticky rice, sausage, seafood, onion, and more are packed into these delicious dim sum rolls.
How was sticky rice rolls invented?
Sticky rice rolls with cured meat are a traditional Cantonese dim sum delicacy, but they aren’t only found in restaurants and dim sum houses. In fact, it is extremely common for Cantonese families to prepare them for breakfast in their own homes, too. They are so easy to make, and all of the ingredients are so common, that many Cantonese find themselves eating them almost too often. However, clever Cantonese have discovered that wrapping an extra layer of baozi skin will give the rolls a fresh taste they may never grow tired of.
Ingredients
- 4 cups (500 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ cups (500 grams) sticky rice
- 1/6 pound (75 grams) fatty pork
- 1/6 pound (75 grams) shrimp
- 1 link sausage
- 1 ounce (30 grams) shiitake mushroom
Seasonings
- 1 teaspoon (2 grams) yeast
- 5 teaspoons (20 grams) white sugar
- 4 teaspoons (20 milliliters) salad oil
- oyster sauce as desired/needed
- cooking oil as desired/needed
- light soy sauce as desired/needed
- chopped green onion as desired/needed
- table salt as desired/needed
Cooking Directions
Preparations
- Rinse and clean the sticky rice. Soak in water for 2 hours before scooping out and allowing to drip dry. Place the rice onto a damp paper towel in a bamboo steamer, and steam until most of the water has evaporated. Allow the rice to air-dry until cool.
- Tip: Steaming for too long will leave the rice soft and mushy
- Soak the mushrooms in warm water for half an hour. Remove and cube the caps. Wash the streaky pork, removing any tougher portions and cubing the remaining meat. Wash and cube the sausage. Soak the shrimp until it becomes soft, and cut into small pieces.
How to make sticky rice meat filling
- Heat a pot, and cover the bottom surface with cooking oil. Add in the fatty pork and begin to stir fry. Next, add in the shrimp and sausage, continuing to stir fry until the meat begins to drip oil. Finally, add in the mushrooms and chopped green onions, along with salt, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and 2 teaspoons of sugar.
- Once fried, mix the filling ingredients into the sticky rice and stir well. Form the filling mixture into two long strips, each about 2 inches in diameter, and cover with plastic wrap.
How to make the dough
- Bring the yeast and some sugar to boil in a pot of water. Sprinkle evenly over top of the flour, and pour in the salad oil. Beat along the edge of the mixture in a constant direction until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to ferment for 40 minutes, at which point the surface should have risen to nearly double its original height.
How to wrap sticky rice rolls
- Divide the dough into two even parts and roll each flat, forming a rectangular of moderate thickness. The formed dough and the sticky rice strips should be of equal lengths, and the dough should be wide enough fully enclose the rice strips when wrapped once around. Place the sticky rice strips on the dough, matching the two lengthwise, then roll the dough over to cover the rice. Pinch the two ends of the dough together to form the roll.
Put it all together
- Place the formed rolls onto oil paper or damp paper towel in a bamboo steamer. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes.
- Add a bit of water to the steamer, and bring to boil under high heat. Place the bamboo steamer into the pot and cook under low heat for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat.
- Let sit for five minutes, and then remove the cover. After the rolls have cooled slightly, cut into pieces approximately 2 centimeters wide.