Mama Lin’s Chinese sticky rice recipe is a new take on the classic dish. Instead of cooking the rice in a pot or rice cooker, the rice is steamed to prevent overcooking. Taro cubes give the rice extra earthy flavors.

Chinese sticky rice, 糯米飯 (traditional) / 糯米饭 (simplified), is one of my favorite dishes growing up. It is typically made with glutinous rice (sometimes called sweet rice). Although glutinous rice looks similar to other types of long-grain white rice, such as jasmine or basmati rice, the texture is chewier and stickier. Don’t confuse glutinous rice for short-grain white rice (or sushi rice)—it is a lot thinner and longer than the latter.

I love Chinese sticky rice because of its flavor. Mama Lin often flavors her sticky rice with dried shrimp, dried scallops, soy sauce, five-spice powder, and an array of vegetables. I’m probably biased, but I think it’s the best flavor combination.

When I was young, Mama Lin made sticky rice in a rice cooker, like most people. A few years ago, she started steaming the rice and has stuck to that cooking method ever since. Her reasoning is that sticky rice prepared in a rice cooker tends to be quite mushy, particularly at the bottom. Streaming the rice, on the other hand, will keep the rice from overcooking and maintains the sticky quality of the dish.

The steaming method is also optimal for cooking the taro in this recipe. Adding taro is not common in sticky rice recipes, but Mama Lin likes the earthy flavors. Taro, once cooked, crumbles quite easily. If you cooked the sticky rice with taro in the rice cooker, the taro in the bottom of the bowl will likely turn to mush. Steaming is a more gentle way to cook taro, which is another reason why we are steaming the rice here.

You can usually find taro in Asian supermarkets. Make sure to buy large taro, ones that are at least 2 pounds (see photo below). You don’t want to buy the small furry taro for this recipe because they have a slimy texture. They also don’t have the same flavor—I find the small taro to be more bland. You can always shred any leftover taro in a food processor and pan fry them like hash browns with minced garlic and salt. It tastes AMAZING.

COOKING NOTES FOR MAMA LIN’S CHINESE STICKY RICE

Before you cook the scallop, you want to tear them apart. This helps ensure that the pieces are spread throughout the dish. The dried scallops, once soaked should be very easy to pull apart.

Mama Lin usually steams the sticky rice in her large wok, but you can cook the rice in a large, deep sauté pan. The one pictured below is a 6-quart Cuisinart sauté pan that is about 12 inches in diameter. The glass lid doesn’t always sit tightly on the pan, but I’m happy with it overall. If you are using a sauté pan, you’ll also need a short steaming rack. I bought the one below for less than $2 at an Asian supermarket, but the steaming rack is available on Amazon as well.

I’m using a thin stainless steel pan for holding the rice and the other ingredients. Mama Lin bought the pan for me from Chinatown, but these stainless steel cake pans are very similar. Mama Lin likes using stainless steel pans for steaming because they heat up a lot quicker. If you don’t have these stainless steel pans, a deep 10-inch pie dish could work, too. You may need to cook the rice for about 5 more minutes because of the thickness of the pie dish.

About 25 minutes into the cooking, you’ll need to flip over the rice so that it cooks evenly. It doesn’t have to be perfect, as you can see in the photo below.

I’m not going to hide it, this Chinese sticky rice requires a little time to prepare. The cooking method isn’t the most precise, just like a lot of other recipes from Mama Lin. However, it is so delicious, the time and trial runs are are well worth it.

Mama Lin’s Chinese Sticky Rice with Taro

Chinese Sticky Rice Recipe - a classic southern Chinese dish that is great for dinner

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

It is very important that you soak the rice ahead. Otherwise, the rice will not cook completely within the timeframe outlined below. In the photos, I am serving the rice with pan-fried five-spice tofu. You can serve the rice with any kind of protein you desire.

Author: Lisa Lin
Prep Time: 6 hours 30 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 7 hours 15 minutes
Yield: Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups sticky rice (about 350g), soaked for 6 to 8 hours
water for cooking the rice

Taro

2 1/2 cups peeled and diced taro*
1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
1/4 cup diced shallots
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper (optional)

Shrimp and Scallops

3 tablespoons dried shrimp, soaked for 30 minutes
1 1/2 tablespoons dried scallops, soaked for 30 minutes
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/4 cup diced shallots
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper (optional)
1 scallion, thinly sliced (dark green parts separated from the rest)

Vegetables

1 tablespoon canola oil
3/4 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/3 cup frozen peas, thawed
pinch of salt

Sauce

2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

Additional Equipment

large deep sauté pan
steaming rack
deep 10-inch stainless steel cake pan (or any dish or pan that can hold the rice and other ingredients)

Instructions

Lightly Sauté Taro, Dried Seafood, and Vegetables

You sauté all these ingredients first to bring out their flavor before adding it to the rice. Heat a wok or sauté pan with 1 1/2 tablespoons oil over high heat. Once the pan is hot, add 1/4 cup of shallots and stir fry them for about 1 minute. Add the taro and stir fry for another minute. Then, add the garlic powder, onion powder, coriander, five-spice powder, salt, and white pepper (if using). Stir to incorporate the spices. Transfer the taro to a plate. Turn off the heat.
Before you cook the dried seafood, drain the shrimp and scallops from the water. Tear the scallops into shreds. It doesn’t have to be perfect.
Wipe down the wok or pan with a kitchen towel. Heat another tablespoon of canola oil over high heat. Add 1/4 cup of shallots and stir fry them for about 1 minute. Add the shrimp and scallops and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the garlic powder, coriander, salt, white pepper (if using), and the white and light green parts of the scallion. Stir to incorporate the spices over the seafood. Transfer to a plate.
Wipe down the wok or pan again. Heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil over high heat. Add the carrots, red bell pepper, and peas. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the vegetables soften. Add a pinch of salt and stir to incorporate. Transfer the vegetables to a plate.

Assemble the Rice Dish

Add about 6 cups cups of water to the large sauté pan (that you are using to steam the rice). Cover it with a lid and bring the water to boil.
Lightly grease the cake pan or pie dish with canola oil.
Drain the rice and transfer the soaked rice to the pan or dish. Drizzle 1/3 cup water over the rice. Smooth out the rice with your hands so it is an even layer. Cover the rice with a layer of the seafood and then the taro on top.

Steam the Rice

Once the water is boiling, remove the lid from the pan. Place the steaming rack in the center. Carefully position the plate full of rice over the steaming rack. The steam is very hot, so be careful here. Cover the sauté pan, reduce the heat to medium, and let the rice steam for 25 minutes.
Using oven mitts, remove the rice from the pan. Pour 2 cups of water into the now empty sauté pan and cover it with a lid again. A lot of water evaporates during the steaming process, so this helps replenish some of the water inside the pan.
Using a large spatula (I used a wok spatula for this), flip everything over so that the rice is on top. Again, this does not have to be perfect. Drizzle about 3 tablespoons of water around the outer edge of the dish or pan. Carefully place the rice back over the steaming rack, and cover the lid. Steam the rice for an additional 7 to 10 minutes.
Remove the rice from the sauté pan and check to see if all the rice is fully cooked. If it isn’t, drizzle a little bit of water over the rice that is not fully cooked. Steam the rice for another 5 minutes or so.

Finish the Rice

In a small bowl, mix the sauce ingredients together. Drizzle the sauce over the cooked rice and carefully toss everything together.
Transfer about half of the rice to a serving plate or bowl. Add half of the mixed vegetables and some of the dark green scallions on top. Next, add the remaining rice, mixed vegetables, and scallions.
Serve immediately with pan-fried tofu or your favorite protein.

Notes

NUTRITION INFORMATION: Amount for 1/6 of recipe: Calories: 348, Total Fat 9.1g, Saturated Fat: 0.8g, Cholesterol: 4.1mg, Sodium: 761mg, Total Carbohydrate: 60g, Dietary Fiber: 3.6g, Sugar: 4g, Protein 6g

*I use a vegetable peeler to peel the skin off the taro. Then, I cut the taro into half-inch pieces. 2 1/2 cups of cubed taro is just over 1 pound.

Mama Lin’s Chinese Sticky Rice with Taro (香芋糯米飯)

COOKING NOTES FOR MAMA LIN’S CHINESE STICKY RICE