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Thursday, November 09, 2006

Loh Mai Kai

Eating this brings me back to my childhood where if you want to have the best Loh Mai Kai in Seremban, my dad will remind us the night before, to wake up before 6.00 am so that we can be in the Dim Sum Restaurant Toong Chan as early as possible otherwise all the Loh Mai Kai will be sold out. Now, i have this anytime i wish, they are frozen and can be heated in the microwave in a jiffy.

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Ingredients:
250g glutinous rice
2 cups water/chicken stock
100g chicken meat
100g Char Siew(bbq pork) - slice
1 Chinese sausage (lap cheong), slice
10g black Chinese mushrooms, soaked and cut into thin slices

Seasoning (A):
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp ginger juice
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Shao Hsing Hua Tiau wine
1 tsp oil
1 tsp tapioca flour

Seasoning (B):
1 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp oil
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp Chinese five spice powder

Method:

Wash glutinous rice, then soak it for two to three hours.

Steam it for 30 minutes.

Cut chicken into slices. Marinate with seasoning (A) for about one to two hours.

Heat oil in big glass bowl and microwave for 2 minutes. Add the chicken and mushrooms, microwave on high for 2 minutes , stir and cook for another 1 minute more.

Mix cooked glutinous rice and seasoning (B)

Grease six small-size rice bowls.

Arrange mushroom slices, a few slices of Chinese sausages ,chicken and bbq pork slices.

Top up with glutinous rice and press down with a ladle.

Fill the bowls with water/chicken stock, make sure the water level is above the rice.

Steam for 30-40 minutes. Alternatively, wrap the bowls with plastic wrap , poke the wrap and microwave on high , 3 bowls at a time for 20 25 minutes. Repeat with the other 3 bowls.

Turn over the rice bowl onto a plate and serve or leave to cool before wrapping tightly with wrap and then foil, leave in the freezer. When you need to eat them, remove the foil and microwave until heated through.

Loh Mai Kai can be eaten with chilli sauce.

Serves

36 comments:

  1. Hi lily
    I finally got this authentic recipe
    which I long to have for a long time
    Yummy, now I do not have to go back to
    Malaysia for it.
    Much appreciated, Tony

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi lily
    Thanks for all your wonderful recipes! It's my sch hols now, so i hope i'll have time to try some of them!

    One really silly question though - erm, how do i get ginger juice?

    And oh! Do you know how to make belacan and other kinds of chilli?

    Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. hui

    so sorry about the late reply. by now your holidays would be over.

    to get ginger juice, you would have to either grate fresh ginger or pound them, then squeese the juice.

    Do you mean smabal belacan?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Lily, I've got to try this recipe cos I am quite sick of the lor mai kai you get in Singapore which is normally whitish in colour and not as tasty as those in Malaysia.

    On question though ... when you steam the glutionous rice, do you need to add water into the rice to steam or do you steam the rice dry?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Lily, I've got to try this recipe cos I am quite sick of the lor mai kai you get in Singapore which is normally whitish in colour and not as tasty as those in Malaysia.

    On question though ... when you steam the glutionous rice, do you need to add water into the rice to steam or do you steam the rice dry?

    ReplyDelete
  6. anonymous

    i add black soya sauce and oil to the stock and then pour it over the rice then steam.

    you could fry the rice with oil and then add black soya sauce to coat the rice.

    ReplyDelete
  7. hi~hi~
    This is my first time here and i am attracted by the delicous Low Mai Kai.
    Wow!Its a yummy yummy tradisional chinese food~My mum likes to do this and she cooks very well too~~

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Lily,
    About making this with using a microwave. I'm not exactly clear on your directions. Did you mean put all the ingredients altogether into say a chinese rice bowl, X3 and microwave it as per the rest you said?
    Thanks for your time.

    - Ling

    ReplyDelete
  9. ling

    you put the sausage, chicken, mushroom and cha siew at the bottom of the bowl and then top with seasoned rice, then top with water/chicken stock. wrap with cling wrap and leave space for steam and microwave until rice is cooked

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Lily

    I tried your recipe-2nd time today.Tasted good and delicious-better than the ones from the restaurants in Malaysia. Thank you for sharing the recipe.

    By the way, do you have the recipe for making 'Heong Peang'?

    regards

    ReplyDelete
  11. anonymous

    is 'heong peang' the one with the funny shape and sticky filling or the penang ones with look tau filling?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi Lily

    Heong peang is the biscuit with sticky filling kind of sugar caramel and are found in many states in M'sia. The ones with brown sugar filling are also popular in Penang.

    i look thru a lot of recipe books and could not seem to find the recipe. Strange though as there are so many shops selling the biscuits from various factories throughout M'sia. Could also find them in Spore! i think Sporeans call it as pong peah or beh tay saw(i think).

    regards

    ReplyDelete
  13. anonymous

    i have seen the recipe but you would have to look for 'mah tai sou'. that is the original name due to the filling.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi Lily,

    Just found you website and you make me drool over all ur recipes. This is fantastic. Missing malaysia food so badly.

    Btw, for the water level for loh mai kai, do i just put the water that is just enough to cover the rice, do you know what's the ratio?

    Baybee

    ReplyDelete
  15. baybee

    as long as you have the water level is a little bit above the rice, it should be fine

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hi Lily,

    Thanks for the info. I will try it out this weekend or next.

    I don't have tapioca flour at home, can i substitute it with corn flour? Are they the same?

    :-)

    Baybee

    ReplyDelete
  17. hi lily
    just wondering when you steam the rice. how much water to put in and how will the texture of the rice be after steaming
    will the rice be all cook?

    gan

    ReplyDelete
  18. gan

    if you have enought of water to cover the rice about 1/4 inch of water above the rice, then the rice will be definitely cooked after steaming Steam for a little while longer if you are afraid that the rice might not be totally cooked due the the efficiency of the steamer

    ReplyDelete
  19. hi lily
    my dad also brings me for loh mai kai whenever we visit grandma in seremban! Thanks for the great recipe. I am going to try it. Just wondering for the char siew, can it be the red color cooked ones?
    thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  20. aub & syl

    yes, the red color cooked ones are char siew of which red food coloring is used. i personally prefer using dark soya sauce.

    Did you grandma go to school in convent, seremban?

    ReplyDelete
  21. hey there... Thank you for this wonderful blog. I can imagine the frustration you go through when you cannot find authentic ingredients. I am also in a western country so it's hard to find stuff..

    with regards to the white loh mai kai in Singapore, i prefer that and it's a different style to what you have in Malaysia. True to its name, the Loh mai kai in Singapore only uses "kai", or chicken, whereas yours has other ingredients.

    We have something called "fan choy" also which is has all the ingredients you listed here, so I think that is what "anonymous 18Jan07" is looking for rather than the usual loh mai kai..

    keep up the good work mate.. looking forward to your next surprise.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hi Lily, thanks for this great recipe, the end result was FANTASTIC!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Hello Aunty,

    This looks very delicious, but I am a bit unsure about how many times you steam the rice. The recipe says to steam it for 30 minutes after soaking it for 2 to 3 hours. Then it says to put all the chicken, etc in the bowls and add rice and liquid and steam it again for 30 - 40 minutes. Does this mean that you steam the rice twice? The first time, before adding the chicken, etc, do you add any liquid to the rice to steam and if yes, how much liquid do you add?

    Thank you for posting this. It looks wonderful and I am looking forward to your reply so that I can try this.

    ricelover

    ReplyDelete
  24. ricelover

    Yes, i did steam the rice once before assembling the chicken etc so that cooking time can be shortened. no water is added, just steam the rice as is. if you wish not to steam the rice, it is ok, but you will have to put in a little more liquid/stock for the steaming.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Lily, i hv tried your recipe last nite, and the result turn out to be excellent! my 2 little boy age 3 and 5 can finished one small bowl by themselve!

    I crave for Loh Mai Kai here in the US as it is so auhentic as Malaysian version of glutinious rice it used to be...I do make Taiwanese style glutinious rice, but it is diff texture and taste.

    Thanks so much! i feel so GREAT everytime browsing your blog and your unique recipe...

    Keep up the good job!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Hi Lily,

    I am a new reader of your blog. I am also from Seremban who used to go for Dim Sum at "Tong Chan" when I was a little kid with my parents. I have moved to Sydney 10 years ago and reading this recipe brings back so much memory. Thanks for sharing and I am going to try to make it this sunday. Keep up the good work.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Hi Lily,

    Thks for the recipe. Will try it this Sat. need to gather all the ingredients first. Hope to surprise my hubby ..

    Greenhorn

    ReplyDelete
  28. Hi Lily,
    Pls post recipe for Farn Choy. It is rice topped with Char Siew Pork Slices. Steamed in medium bowls.
    Tks.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Hey Lily,

    I was craving for Loh Mai Kai all the way from Melbourne. Missing the yummy-licious LMK from "Guong Long" Restaurant in OUG, KL.

    Ive tried this recipe for 2 time and am wanting to try for to reach that perfection LMK. Will try this recipe one day at a church gathering.

    Thank you soooo much...

    Appreciating the "art" of cookery now... :)

    ReplyDelete
  30. Hi Lily
    I chanced upon your blog and found this Loh Mai Kai recipe. I tried it out yesterday and I have to say ' thank you so so much' for sharing this great tasty recipe. Thumbs up!

    ReplyDelete
  31. materials were hard to get here .. T_T

    ReplyDelete
  32. Hi Lily,

    This recipe is fantastic! I grow up eating the Singapore lo mai kai and my kiddos are into it. When I made this, they simply luv it.

    But I have one qs. How do you steam the rice over the stove? I did it in the microwave but found it too drying. Or if I use the rice cooker, do I need to increase or decrease the water level? What's the best steaming way to do this?

    Cheers!
    Jackie

    ReplyDelete
  33. jackie

    if you use the microwave, add more liquid if you need it more moist. There is no best method to me as it depends, it is more practical if you are making several bowls, then steaming is prefered.

    ReplyDelete
  34. I am sure this is delicious but it is neither loh mai kai nor fan choy, it is a cross of the two. Loh mai kai has no char siew.

    ReplyDelete
  35. lulu

    loh mai kai sold in my era that would be a long long time ago did have char siew. The sweetness from the char siew and the lap cheong made this dish tasted so much better. Well, any ingredient will be good as long as you like the taste.

    ReplyDelete
  36. lol - I am 48 years old! But I must say you make your version sound and look very good Lily - and traditional way is not necessarily the best way. Maybe I should try your style :)

    ReplyDelete