Savory Sticky Rice with Chinese Sausage (Xôi Mặn/Lo Mai Fan)
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What is Xôi Mặn?
A warm dish of fragrant sticky rice infused with the savory goodness of Chinese sausage, dried shrimp, and dried shiitake mushrooms.
It’s topped off with crunchy fried shallots for texture and scallion oil for an aromatic finish.
Xôi Mặn is usually made for special occasions such as Lunar New Year. You can also find this dish in dim sum restaurants in cute little dome-shape mounds.
But no need to wait for Lunar New Year or spend money at a restaurant. Now you can make it at home.
Other Names for Chinese Sticky Rice
This dish is called Xôi Mặn in Vietnamese. It’s also known as
Lo Mai Fan (Cantonese)
You Fan (Taiwanese)
Nuo Mi Fan
No Mi Fan
Sticky Rice vs Regular Rice
Sticky rice, also known as sweet rice or glutinous rice, is a short-grain rice. It serves as the foundation of the dish, providing a sticky and chewy texture. When cooked, the grains clumps together. Sticky rice has a mild, slightly sweet flavor.
Long-grain rice is different from short-grain rice. Long-grain rice, such as Jasmine rice, once cooked results in fluffy and separated grains. Long-grain rice offers more of a neutral flavor than short-grain rice.
Rice Cooker Vs Steaming
Some people use a rice cooker or a pot to cook sticky rice, and that's perfectly fine.
However, these two methods require precise water measurement to get the perfect texture. Because rice and water are cooked together, too much water will make the rice soggy. Too little water will make the rice dry and hard. Once it’s cooked, that’s it. It’s quite hard to fix afterwards.
The ideal way to cook sticky rice is steaming. Steaming eliminates having the correct amount of water. To steam the sticky rice, start by soaking the grains, preferably overnight. Soaking the rice grains will allow the rice grains to soak up as much water it is capable of holding and therefore reduce the cooking time.
After soaking, you can now steam. If the rice is undercooked, you can simply continue steaming to get the perfect texture.
The Holy Trinity of Savory Sticky Rice
For Xôi Mặn, we used the classic trio of Chinese sausage, dried shiitake mushrooms, and dried shrimp.
Because the ingredients have been dehydrated, their flavors are super concentrated. When added to sticky rice, it’s a delicious combination that’s packed full of flavor.
What You Will Need
To make savory sticky rice, gather the following ingredients:
Uncooked sticky rice: My favorite sticky rice brand is Three Ladies. Make sure you are picking up a bag that’s labeled sweet rice or glutinous rice.
For this dish, you do not want want the long grain Jasmine rice, which Three Ladies brand also offers.
Chinese sausage: In Vietnam, Chinese sausage is called lạp xưởng. This flavorful sausage, typically cured and sweet, imparts a rich umami taste to the sticky rice. Other names it goes by are lap cheong, lap chong, and lop cheung.
Dried shrimp: The addition of dried shrimp enhances the umami profile of the dish and provides a salty and textural contrast. Do not be tempted and think fresh is better. Please do not use fresh shrimp for this dish.
Dried shiitake mushrooms: Dried shiitake mushrooms have a slightly different texture and flavor than fresh mushrooms. I prefer dried shiitake mushrooms over fresh. It’s pantry stable and less potent-tasting. Plus, fresh mushrooms may add unwanted moisture to the sticky rice that can ruin its texture.
Green onions/scallions: This is to make the scallion oil for wonderful aromatic finish. Optional but highly recommended.
Vegetable oil: This neutral-flavored vegetable oil is used for stir-frying the Chinese sausage and other dried ingredients. It also adds an oily shine to the finished dish. We also need a little to make scallion oil.
Soy sauce: Light or all-purpose soy sauce is the main flavoring. If you don’t have soy sauce, substitute with Maggi seasoning or Knorr liquid seasoning.
Salt: Salt is needed to season the rice because too much of a liquid seasoning can ruin the texture of the rice. I’m using finely ground sea salt.
Sugar: I’m using granulated cane sugar to balance of salty flavor of the soy sauce or its substitutes.
Fried shallots: optional but highly recommend for added texture and aroma.
How to Make it
Step 1: Prepare the Dried Ingredients
Soak the rice for 4 hours. Preferably, do this overnight to avoid waiting. After soaking, drain the rice through a colander, rinse a few times until water runs clear then set aside.
Soak the dried shrimp and dried shiitake mushrooms in hot water for 20 minutes to rehydrate and soften. Drain both and set aside. Slice the mushrooms.
Step 2: Stir Fry Ingredients
Heat the oil in a wok over medium-high. Add dried shrimp, Chinese sausage and black/shiitake mushrooms. Stir fry for about 5 minutes or until you get a nice caramelization on the outside. Add soy sauce and sugar. Toss until evenly seasoned.
Step 3: Steam the Rice and Add Other Ingredients
Make sure your steamer doesn’t have any large holes that the rice grains will fall through. If it does, cover the bottom with a cheesecloth. Add water to the steamer and bring the water to a boil and then lower to a simmer.
Toss the rinsed rice with salt until evenly combined then transfer the rice to the steamer. Steam with a covered lid for 20 minutes.
Add the stir fried Chinese sausage, mushroom and dried shrimp mixture to the rice. Toss until evenly combined then steam for 15 more minutes, covered, or until rice is the texture of your liking.
Step 4: Make Scallion Oil
To make the scallion oil quickly, slice the green onions/scallions into thin concentric circles then add them to a microwave safe bowl. Mix with a little bit vegetable oil then heat in the microwave for 30 seconds.
Step 5: Serve and Enjoy
You can serve it as is or if you're feeling fancy, pack it into a small bowl rinsed in warm water and flip it over onto a plate. This makes cute little rice domes, just like they do at dim sum restaurants. Brush with scallion oil and top with fried shallots (optional) and enjoy.
FAQs
How long can you store Chinese sticky rice?
You can store sticky rice in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. If you want to store it for longer, you can freeze it for up to 4 months.
How to reheat sticky rice?
To reheat sticky rice, you can either steam the rice again until it’s warm through. You can also place the rice in a microwave-safe bowl and add a tablespoon of water. Cover and microwave on high for 1-2 minutes, or until the rice is heated through.
Savory Sticky Rice with Chinese Sausage (Xôi Mặn/Lo Mai Fan)
Ingredients
Instructions
- Soak the rice for 4 hours. Preferably, do this overnight to avoid waiting. After soaking, drain the rice through a colander, rinse a few times until water runs clear then set aside.
- Soak the dried shrimp and dried shiitake mushrooms in hot water for 20 minutes to rehydrate and soften. Drain both and set aside. Slice the mushrooms.
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok over medium-high. Add dried shrimp, Chinese sausage and black/shiitake mushrooms. Stir fry for about 5 minutes. Add soy sauce and sugar. Toss until evenly seasoned.
- Make sure your steamer doesn’t have any large holes that the rice grains will fall through. If it does, cover the bottom with a cheesecloth. Add water to the steamer and bring the water to a boil and then lower to a simmer.
- Toss the rinsed rice with salt until evenly combined then transfer the rice to the steamer. Steam with a covered lid for 20 minutes.
- Add the stir fried Chinese sausage, mushroom and dried shrimp mixture to the rice. Toss until evenly combined then steam for 15 more minutes, covered, or until rice is the texture of your liking.
- To make the scallion oil quickly, slice the green onions/scallions into thin concentric circles then add them to a microwave safe bowl. Mix with 1 teaspoon vegetable oil, then heat in the microwave for 30 seconds.
- You can serve it as is or if you're feeling fancy, pack it into a small bowl rinsed in warm water and flip it over onto a plate to make cute little rice domes, just like they do at dim sum restaurants. Brush with scallion oil and top with fried shallots (optional) and enjoy.
Notes
If you don’t have soy sauce, substitute with Maggi seasoning or Knorr liquid seasoning.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
768Fat
18 gSat. Fat
5 gCarbs
117 gFiber
2 gNet carbs
115 gSugar
4 gProtein
33 gSodium
2308 mgCholesterol
255 mgThe values provided should be considered estimates. Factors such as brands purchased, natural variations in fresh ingredients, etc. will change the nutritional information in any recipe. To obtain accurate nutritional information for a recipe, use your preferred nutrition calculator to determine nutritional information with the actual ingredients and quantities used.