Turning raw rice into a finished dish is hard work, and nobody has the patience for it any more — so the simpler oil rice gets, the better.

Most oil rice now is made by steaming the glutinous rice and then mixing in the cooked filling. It is straightforward, and nothing is lost.

We tested steaming glutinous rice in an electric rice cooker several times, but by the third attempt it was clear the water quantity is very hard to standardise. So we tried using a flour sieve as a steamer basket in a Tatung cooker instead — and it worked first time.

 

A stainless steel flour sieve as a steamer basket, sitting on a trivet, does the job.

 

1. Rinse the long-grain glutinous rice and soak for at least 3 hours, or longer.

2. Tip the soaked rice onto the flour sieve, spread it out and let it drain.

3. Fill the inner pot of the rice cooker with enough water to come up to the level of the rice(as much as it takes), and bring it to the boil on the hob over a high heat.

4. Lower the sieve of rice into the boiling water and cook for 60 seconds, stirring evenly with a ladle.(Have your tongs or a quick-release pot clip ready beforehand, as in the photograph, or you will not get it out in time.)

 

5. Lift the sieve out, let the blanched rice drain briefly, and set it on the trivet in the rice cooker.

6. We tested this with 3 rice-cooker cups of long-grain glutinous rice, so one cup of water went in the outer pot.

7. Put the lid on and press the switch. By the time it clicks off, the rice should be cooked.

 

8. Taste a little to check. If it is not quite there, steam it a while longer.
(Soaking time, the variety and quality of the rice, and how long it was blanched will all change the texture.
 

While the rice steams, cook the filling.

 

Tip in the steamed rice and turn it through with a spatula.

 

Then add the one thing that matters most: high-quality, entirely natural Cheng Chi Taiwanese fried shallots.

Good fried shallots take the whole dish up a level.

 

To keep it warm, tip it back into the rice cooker — then there is hot, fragrant oil rice whenever anyone wants some.

 

 

 

Steam the rice this way and a handful of simple ingredients will give you a very good oil rice.

 

 

Seafood and scallop oil rice

Ingredients:  
Long-grain or short-grain glutinous rice (as you prefer) 3 rice-cooker cups
Pork lard 60 g
Dried shrimp 40 g  

Small dried scallops 90 g

Rice wine, enough to cover the scallops

Minced ginger 26 g

Seasoning:  
Salt 0.4 tsp  
Black bean soy sauce 2 tbsp  
Dark brown sugar or caster sugar 1 tbsp  
Rice wine 1 tbsp  
Cheng Chi fried shallots 4 tbsp  
 
To cook the glutinous rice:
see the instructions above
Method:

1. Rinse the dried shrimp.

2. Soak the dried scallops in rice wine for about 3 hours or longer until soft, then drain.

3. Finely chop the ginger.

4. Dry-fry the scallops in a wok to drive off the surface moisture.

5. Add the minced ginger and the lard and fry the scallops gently over a low heat.

6. Add the dried shrimp and fry.

7. Add the seasoning (salt, black bean soy sauce, dark brown sugar, rice wine) and stir until fragrant.

(Keep the heat low here, or the sauce will cook away — it should still be moist.)

8. Add the cooked glutinous rice and mix through while hot.

9. Add the fried shallots and mix again.

10. Return it to the rice cooker on keep-warm, and hot oil rice is ready whenever you are.

 
 
 

 

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