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八宝饭 (Ba Bao Fan) Chinese dessert has many varieties that are so unique and special to its own tradition. I still have the vivid memory of my parents making a special dessert to celebrate Chinese new year, i.e., the steamed sticky rice with 8 treasures. 8 is just a number, it means numerous sweet ingredients used in the recipe, mostly dried fruits and red bean paste. In the old days, making this dessert required lots of effort, it was only made during the spring festival when people had plenty spare time. The hardest part of making this dessert in a traditional way is to make the red bean paste, which took a few hours. It started with simmering the red bean for a couple of hours, then removing the bean skin, consolidating the bean starch, then boiling the bean starch with sugar and pork fat. It was quite a lengthy process. Fortunately these days, we can purchase the ready to use red bean paste from the Chinese grocery stores. Dried fruits can be purchased from stores as well. It c...

微波炉糯米酒酿(Wei Bo Lu Gui Hua Jiu Niang) Fermented sticky rice is really like a magic food, you can eat it as cool dessert in summer time, or make a soup with egg, Chinese dates to warm a cold winter night. I have published recipe to make fermented rice  already, however, I always feel it is a challenge to cook the sticky rice, until this time, the overall process has been simplified quite a bit. Microwave recipes are such convenient ways to avoid use of pots and pans. For more fun cooking ideas, see Recipes by Category . Ingredients 2 cups of sticky rice 1 wine yeast ball available in Chinese grocery stores) Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 20 minutes Ferment Time: 2 to 7 days Servings: 4 Cooking Steps 1. Get a large microwaveable container, I used a glass container with cover. Sanitize it using dish soap, wash thoroughly including the cover. 2. Measure 2 cups of sticky rice and 3 cups of water, add to the bowl.Stir evenly to mix the rice with water, do not let rice flo...

香菇肉丁糯米饭 (Xiang Gu Rou Ding Nuo Mi Fan) Steamed sticky rice with lotus leaf is a popular dim sum entrée. Lotus leaf is available in some Chinese grocery stores, usually in the frozen section. In this recipe, I opt out the lotus leaf and the flavor of the sticky rice with shiitake mushroom and pork bits is no less than the restaurant version. For more fun cooking ideas, see Recipes by Category . Ingredients 1 cup of sticky rice 1 and 1/2 cup of chicken stock (use water is fine if no chicken stock is available) 1/2 lb. pork (ideally with some fat portion) A few dried shiitake mushroom 1 tablespoon canola oil 2 tablespoon soy sauce 1 teaspoon sugar 1 green onion (why buy from store? grow your own green onion ) Preparation Time:  minutes Cooking Time:  minutes Servings: 4 Cooking Steps 1. Prepare the shiitake mushroom from dried version . 2. Add 1 tablespoon canola oil to a non stocky wok, add 1 cup sticky rice, stir fry for 2-3 minutes or until the rice ...

棕叶香肠糯米饭(Zōng Yè Xiāng Cháng Nuò Mǐ Fàn) These days glutinous rice has been my favorite ingredient for all kinds of experiments in my kitchen. I have made quite a few times of fermented sticky rice in the past few weeks, the fermented rice is so sweet and full of the wine fragrance. Last night I tried this super simple steamed sticky rice with bamboo leaves and Chinese sausage , which is such as delicious and convenient meal. For more fun cooking ideas, see Recipes by Category. Ingredients 1 cup of sticky rice 1 tablespoon soy sauce and a pinch of sugar 1-2 Chinese sausage 5-6 bamboo dried leaves (available in most Chinese grocery store). Preparation Time:  10 minutes with overnight soaking of rice and bamboo leaves Cooking Time: 40-50 minutes Servings: 4 Cooking Steps 1.  Buy a pack of dried bamboo leaves from Chinese grocery store. It is super cheap, around a couple of dollars. Soak 5-6 bamboo leaves in water overnight. 2. Add 1 cup of rice and 1 cup of water to a large m...