Yau Mei Faan

Name: Yau Mei Faan
Yield: makes 4 servings
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups sticky short-grain Chinese rice (sometimes called glutinous rice), rinsed well and drained; 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/2-inch chunks; 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine or dry sherry; 1/3 cup soy sauce; 1 tablespoon corn, grapeseed, or other neutral oil; 2 Chinese sausage links, chopped; 6 wood ear or shiitake mushrooms, reconstituted (page 112), drained, and chopped; 10 dried shrimp (page 185), soaked in hot water, drained, and chopped; 2 scallions, trimmed and minced

December 14, 2011

Hearty and warming, this is a popular winter dish in China, and rightly so. If you have a rice cooker, this is a good place to use it; it will allow you both to make the rice and to keep it warm. Even better is to wrap the rice in lotus leaves, as in the variation, which gives it a rich, smoky flavor and produces a dish often served at dim sum brunches. You can find lotus (or banana) leaves, as well as Chinese sausage and dried shrimp, at most Asian markets.

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