In Singapore, we eat glutinous rice all year
round regardless of season or weather. So when I moved to Hong Kong a couple of
years back, and was told that glutinous rice was eaten mostly during the cool
season, I was quite surprised. And, if the warming global climate is anything
to go by, and the past two winters in HK any indication of things to come,
glutinous rice might soon be an extinct dish!
Anyway, I love glutinous rice whichever way
it is cooked---dumpling, fried, steamed, and especially in this featured recipe.
I ate this version long ago when I was young, and had all but forgotten it,
until I encountered it again at Chef Ang Sang Kang (better known as Chef Kang)’s
tiny and rather stifling shop located in an HDB block in Serangoon. Later, in a
seemingly roller-coaster career that saw a few ups and downs, Chef Kang moved
to bigger premises in Joo Chiat, and finally to his present restaurant, Canton
Recipes House, at a hotel in Albert Street. Having said that, a meal at Chef
Kang’s, wherever he’s located, has always proven a treat.
This is a simple recipe that I learned from
some chefs in Hong Kong, and which I’ve tweaked a little. In this recipe, it is
important to use garlic in the form of a paste prepared beforehand, instead of
as raw chopped garlic added just before steaming. The reason being that cooked
garlic paste would be more robust and mellow in taste, and would come in handy
for other recipes too!
Steamed Glutinous Rice with Crab
Glutinous rice 300 g
Water 5 cups
Salt 1½ tsp
Chicken broth 3 tbsp
Light soy
sauce 1 tbsp
Crab 1
or 2, depending on size
Garlic paste 2 tbsp
Spring onion
White pepper
Method:
- Soak glutinous rice with 5 cups of water.
Drain the rice thoroughly after 3 hours. Add salt in the rice and mix
well.
- Steam rice for 30 minutes. Sprinkle 2 tbsp of chicken broth and continue to steam for another 10 minutes.
- In between, sprinkle light soy sauce onto the
rice.
- Add crab and garlic paste and steam for
another 9 minutes.
- Sprinkle spring onions and pepper before
serving.
Garlic paste:
Garlic 8, finely chopped
Oil 8 tbsp
Salt ¼ tsp
Method:
1.
Fry garlic and
salt under low heat.
2.
Keep stirring
until the garlic is cooked and could be mashed easier.
3.
Remove and
keep in a cool corner.