Easy Pressure Cooker Lo Mai Gai (Steamed Sticky Rice with Chicken)
Course: Dim Sum, Entree
Cuisine: Chinese
Prep Time: 25 minutesminutes
Cook Time: 30 minutesminutes
pressure release:: 10 minutesminutes
Total Time: 1 hourhour5 minutesminutes
Servings: 5servings
Calories: 522kcal
Author: Marvellina
Traditional savory steamed glutinous rice with chicken you found at dim sum restaurant is pressured cooked in Instant Pot. Seriously no fuss easy recipe and flavorful.
If you are not using a pressure cooker to cook the rice, soak the rice for 4 hours
If using lotus leaves, soak in warm water for about one hour and then trim off the hard stem in the middle of the leaf. Trim the leaf smaller by cutting in half.
Save the liquid from soaking dried shrimp and mushrooms and top up with water to make up for 1 3/4 cups liquid to cook the rice later
Marinate the chicken with seasonings and set aside for 15 minutes
Mix all seasonings for the rice and set aside
Cooking with Instant Pot (pot in pot method):
For instant pot, I make one large 7 inches lo mai gai. You can split into 3-4 smaller bowls if you prefer. Sometimes the space is a bit limited with Instant Pot. It's up to you
Press saute on IP. When it's hot, add oil to the inner pot and saute the Chinese sausage for about 1 minute until lightly char and also some of the oil will render out too. Remove sausage from the pot and set aside. Add garlic, purple onion, and dried shrimp until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the rice and seasonings and cook until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Turn off saute mode. Pour in the water and mix everything to combine
If you plan to use lotus leaves, brush with some oil, line the 7-inch round pan with the lotus leaves. You can use a round 7-inch stainless steel, aluminum, or metal is recommended or anything that is labeled "oven proof" can be used. If using glass and ceramic material, you may need to add extra 5 minutes or longer to the cooking time
Place the marinated chicken, mushrooms, Chinese sausage, chestnuts (if using) at the bottom of the container. Add the rice mixture along with the liquid into the container. Make sure the liquid covers the rice. Use a spoon to help you gently push the rice into the liquid. Place on top of the trivet
Give the inner pot a quick rinse. You don't need to wash with soap. Nothing sticks to the pot so just a quick rinse is sufficient. We will be using the pot-in-pot method to pressure cook the rice. I don't recommend cooking the rice in the inner pot directly as it seems to trigger the "burn" alert more often than not because the rice is sticky
Pour 2 cups of water into the inner pot the instant pot. Carefully transfer the trivet with the container on top into the inner pot
Close the lid. Turn the steam release handle to Seal. Press pressure cooker, high pressure and set the timer to 30 minutes. Some of you have feedback that you need 45 minutes to cook the rice. Mine is perfectly cooked at 30 minutes. So you need to observe and add extra cooking time as needed
Once the timer is done, wait for 10 minutes and then turn the steam release handle to venting and make sure the pressure valve has gone down all the way down before you open the lid for safety measure
Sometimes, some of the rice grains on top may seem uncooked but once you fluff the rice a little bit on top and close the lid back up and let it sits for another 5 minutes, they will be all cooked through after that
Let the lo mai gai sit in the container for 10 minutes. For presentation, place one serving plate on top of the container and then invert upside down (so the bottom is on top now) and garnish with cilantro leaves and/or chopped green onion if you like
Stove-top method:
Get your steamer ready. In a large skillet, heat some oil and saute the Chinese sausage for 1 minute until lightly charred and aromatic. Remove the sausage from the skillet. Add dried shrimp, purple onion, and garlic until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the rice and seasonings and cook until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Turn off the heat
You can make one large lo mai gai or make 5 smaller ones. If you use lotus leaves, brush the lotus leaf with some cooking oil. Place 1/5 of the marinated chicken, mushrooms, Chinese sausage, water chestnuts and the rice mixture on the leaf and then fold the sides of the leaf over, like wrapping a parcel. Secure with kitchen twine. Repeat with the rest . Place in the steamer and steam for the next 45 minutes to 1 hour over medium heat (may take longer if you make one large parcel). Remove from the steamer and serve immediately
Video
Notes
Glutinous rice is not the same as sushi rice or any short-grain rice. Glutinous rice is also known as sweet rice or sticky rice. Glutinous rice is one type of rice and it does not contain gluten. The word glutinous is just to describe the sticky or "glue" like texture of the rice