The whole of a rice cake depends on how you handle the glutinous rice. Get it properly steamed through and it is almost certain to be good. Today I soaked long-grain glutinous rice for about 2.5 hours and steamed it for around 20 minutes before it felt done. The time is not absolute — check how well the steamer lid fits, because if it is badly warped and the steam escapes quickly, the rice comes out dry and hard. That is why I have made this so many times: I am still looking for a better and simpler way.

There was only so much XO sauce to line the cups with this time, so keep a little of the oil back, or the rice sticks to the bottom and will not turn out.

Ingredients:
Long-grain glutinous rice 600 g
XO scallop sauce about 80 g
Dried shrimp 16 g
Oil from the XO sauce 1 tbsp
Braising liquid from shallot braised pork, to taste

Method:
See the Qingshui rice cake recipe.

This time we fried the dried shrimp in the oil from the XO sauce and mixed it straight into the steamed glutinous rice with a little of the braising liquid. Do not add too much — you want the rice only faintly coloured. Check the texture again and adjust with a splash of hot water if needed. Even at the point of packing the cups for the second steaming, if it still looks too dry, add a little water: glutinous rice is very forgiving, and with enough moisture it will drink it back up and stay pleasantly springy.