Lo Mai Fan (Steamed Glutinous Rice) is a popular street breakfast of the Chinese community in Malaysia. It is delicious and satisfying!
Lo Mai Fan (Steamed Glutinous Rice) is not a dish you can find in the Chinese restaurants in Malaysia. It is the poor cousin of Lo Mai Gai, a dimsum favorite. Hence, you will find this humble street food at the morning and night markets. The glutinous rice is usually steamed in large trays and cut into pieces or scooped into portions for the customer. This is fast and convenient for people to grab a quick bite during the morning rush hour.
The Glutinous Rice
Glutinous rice a.k.a. sweet rice has a sticky, glue-like texture. Despite its name, there is no gluten in the rice. Glutinous rice is used in many Asian dishes and desserts. You can find a few of them here. Please do check them out.
1. Nasi Kunyit (Turmeric Glutinous Rice)
2. Pulut Inti (Glutinous Rice with Sweet Coconut Topping)
3. Mango Sticky Rice Dessert
The Lo Mai Fan Toppings
The toppings may vary but the mainstays are chopped toasted peanuts, green onions, and fried shallots. You may or may not find fried dried shrimp as this is supposed to be an economical dish. In the old days, dried shrimp was cheap but now it is no longer cheap. The good thing is that you can put in as much dried shrimp as you like when you make it at home. If you are not a fan of dried shrimp, you can use chopped up cooked lap cheong (Chinese sausage) which is also quite delicious.
The Sweet Sauce
The sauce to drizzle on top of the rice is a generic Tim Cheong (sweet sauce) made using Tau Cheong (fermented soy beans) and sugar, thicken with a roux. You will find this sauce in many other breakfast dishes including Chee Cheong Fun.
Similar Products Used in Making This Lo Mai Fan (Steamed Glutinous Rice)
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2 Piece Stainless Steel Stack and Steam Pot Set
18/8 Stainless Steel 11 inch Steamer Pot with Lid, 2-tier
Hand Hammered 14 inch, Round Bottom Carbon Steel Pow Wok with Bamboo Handle
Three Ladies Sanpatong Sweet Rice 5 lbs
Lo Mai Fan (Steamed Glutinous Rice)
Ingredients
- 2 cups glutinous rice (soaked for at least 4 hours or overnight) (400g)
- ½ tsp five spice powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1¼ cups water (300ml)
Toppings
- ¼ cup dried shrimp (30g)
- 6 shallots or 1 onion, cut into thin slices
- ¼ cup toasted peanuts (chopped) (35g)
- 6 green onions (finely sliced)
- 2 red chilies (seeded and cut into thin strips)
- ¼ cup vegetable oil (60ml)
Sauce
- ¼ cup hoisin sauce (4 tbsp)
- ¼ cup water (60ml)
- 1 tsp sesame oil
Instructions
- Rinse and drain dried shrimp. Soak in hot water for 10 minutes. Drain and give soaked dried shrimp a rough chop.
- In a wok, heat vegetable oil. Fry prepared shallots or onion until brown and crispy over medium low flame/heat. Remove fried shallots with a slotted spatula, leaving oil in the wok.
- Add chopped dried shrimp to the wok and fry until crispy. Remove fried dried shrimp with slotted spatula. Set both aside. Leftover fragrant oil can be used for a different dish at a later time.
- Combine hoisin sauce and ¼ cup (60ml) water in a small saucepan over medium low flame/heat. Bring to a boil and allow sauce to thicken. Turn off stove and add sesame oil. Transfer sauce to a gravy dish.
- Prepare a steaming rack. Fill bottom pan with 1½ to 2 inches of water in the. Bring to a boil.
- Rinse and drain soaked glutinous rice. Transfer rice to a heatproof dish and place the dish in the steaming rack. Add five spice powder, salt, sesame oil, and water to the soaked glutinous rice. Stir to mix.
- Transfer steaming rack onto the pan with boiling water on the stove. Cover and steam for 15 minutes.
- Remove lid, fluff rice with fork. Cover and steam for another 5 minutes.
- Remove from wok and allow the rice to cool for 10 minutes. Using a fork, gently smoothen the top of the steamed glutinous rice.
- Sprinkle fried dried shrimp, chopped toasted peanuts, fried shallots,
- red chili strips, and green onions on the top of steamed glutinous rice.
- Serve immediately with prepared sweet sauce.
Nutrition
This is one of my favorite street breakfast from the old country. You can certainly serve it for lunch or even dinner. I hope you will give it a try.
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