Chinese Food: Lor Mai Gai and Ee Foo Noodles

I am on a chinese food roll!

First i made this Lor Mai Gai

Lor mai gai is a chinese dish served during breakfast, or a mid-day snack. Often seen at restaurants serving dim sum (chinese snacks), they are made of sticky glutinous rice and topped with an array of chicken, chinese mushrooms, and chinese sausages.

If you havent come across glutinous rice before, the texture is somewhat like the sushi rice. Only much stickier. This rice is seasoned with a pantry full of chinese sauces before it is cooked. Being new in cooking, it took me a while t0 rally all these bottles of sauces. I would go to the grocery, buy one bottle, and forget what the names of the other sauces i was supposed to get. But once i got all my ducks (or bottle sauces) in line, i was good to go!

Next, i made this crispy ee foo noodles.

Thank goodness most of the sauces i bought for the sticky rice were once again listed in this recipe. So, i guess building up that initial chinese sauce pantry wasn’t such a waste after all.

This dish is made of crispy, deep fried noodles and ladled with a gravy of chinese mushrooms, assorted vegetables, and a type of meat (be it seafood, pork or chicken). And when i say a type of meat, i would really recommend on choosing only one type of meat. You wouldnt want to mix shrimps and chicken.

Like eating a bowl of cereal with milk, the longer the crispy noodles soaks the gravy, the softer it gets. And if you eat it on the spot, you get this gratifying crunch with each bite. I stand midway in savoring this dish. I ladle the gravy onto the plate, mix it up for a bit, then take my first bite. I get best of both crispy vs soggy world that way.

Lor mai gai (Steamed Glutinous Rice with Chicken)
Recipe taken from My kitchen

Ingredients (makes 6 servings):
3 cup glutinous rice, rinsed and soaked 4-5 hours or overnight
300gm boned chicken thigh, sliced
3-4 shiitake mushroom, soaked and shredded
1 Chinese sausage, thinly sliced (some people use char siew)

A
1 cm ginger, minced
1-2 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp shaoxing wine (chinese cooking wine)
½ tbsp oyster sauce
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp corn starch

B
1 tbsp cooking oil
2 bulbs shallot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
*1 tsp dark soy sauce
*1 tbsp light soy sauce
*1 tbsp oyster sauce
*½ tsp salt (or to taste)
*½ tbsp sesame oil
*½ tsp ground white pepper
*Pinch of 5-spices powder
1 cup water
Methods:

1. Marinate chicken and shiitake mushroom with ingredients A for at least 30 minutes.
2. Heat oil in wok, sauté garlic and shallot until fragrant. Stir in glutinous rice and ingredients B marked with *. Stir until rice is coated with the sauce evenly.
3. Add in water and cook until all water is absorbed. Remove from heat.
4. In each steaming bowl, place 2-3 slices of Chinese sausage follow by 2-3 pieces chicken and mushroom. Next, fill in glutinous rice until three quarter full.
5. Steam in preheated steamer for 30 minutes or until the rice is cooked.
6. Turn the heat off, keep the cover on for about 10 minutes before taking them out from steamer to prevent surfaces from drying out.
7. Run a spatula or knife around the bowl then invert lor mai kai onto a plate and serve warm with some chili sauce (optional).

Cantonese Fried Noodles Recipe (肉絲炒麵)
Taken from Rasa Malaysia

Ingredients

300g soft egg noodles
100g lean pork, shredded
4 pcs dried black mushroom
50g bean sprouts
100g yellow chives
1/2 table spoon julienned ginger

Marinade for Dried Mushrooms

1/4 tsp salt

Marinade for Bean Sprouts and Yellow Chives

1/4 tsp salt

Marinades for Lean Pork

1/2 tsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
1/4 tsp wine
1/4 tsp corn starch
1/4 tsp oil

Sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp corn starch
3/4 cup water from soaking the dried mushrooms

Method:

1. Briefly blanch noodles (or according to the packet instructions) to make them al dente. Then immediately rinse the noodles under running cold water for another half minute. Loosen the rinsed noodles in a colander and air- dry it for about an hour before frying, a simple but important step for making the noodles crispy.
2. Rinse dried mushrooms thoroughly; soak them in 3/4 cup water until soft. Squeeze water in mushrooms and cut them into thin slices. Reserve the 3/4 cup water. Marinade pork, mushrooms for about 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Rinse bean sprouts and yellow chives. Cut chives into sections, about 4 cm long. Put them in a colander to drain off any excess water. Right before cooking, sprinkle in salt, and mix it well with the sprouts and chives.
4. Make sure all ingredients are ready to go before frying noodles as they need to be cooked while the fried noodles are still crispy
5. Heat wok over high heat, add oil and distribute it over the center and halfway up the sides. As the oil starts to smoke lightly, lay noodles flat in the wok. Turn to medium heat, do not move the noodles till they turned golden on the bottom side. The noodles might get stuck to the wok if they are moved before heated enough. Then flip to the other side, and add another table spoon of oil, continue to fry them till they turned crispy on the second side. Dish up noodles and lay them on a plate.
6. Heat another table spoon of oil in wok over medium heat, saute julienned ginger, dried mushrooms, followed by shredded pork. Stir constantly for about 2 minutes or till done. Toss in bean sprouts and yellow chives, turn to high heat and stir fry them for half a minute, or, just before they get wilted. Then pour in well-mixed sauce and keep stirring. As soon as the liquid boils, they are done.
7. Ladle all the cooked ingredients with the sauce on top of the crispy noodles. Serve hot with black vinegar as the dipping sauce. Enjoy.

Cook’s Notes:

1. To avoid noodles sticking to wok, it is important to make sure the wok and oil are well-heated.
2. For presentation, it is better to top the noodles with meat and sauce, but I would suggest combining them all before sending to mouth.