This time we added dried scallop for savouriness, so the flavour can carry more weight. That alone sets it apart from the plain white glutinous rice cakes sold everywhere else — and using Cheng Chi fried shallots takes it well beyond anything soy sauce can do on its own.
One: braise the pork first
Braised pork: (about 16–24 portions) Make one batch and use it over two or three rounds of rice cakes.
Group A:
Pork belly 840 g
Soy sauce 170 g
Rock sugar 30 g
Group B:
Rice wine 30 g
Water 930 g
Star anise 4 g
Mirin 2 tbsp
Group C:
Cheng Chi fried shallots 56 g (hold back half and add it after about 50 minutes, then braise for another 5)
Method:
1. Boil the whole piece of pork belly over a high heat for 5 minutes, then plunge it into cold water to cool quickly and cut into thick slices.
2. Heat the soy sauce and rock sugar from group A gently until dissolved. Add the sliced pork belly and turn it in the sauce until evenly coloured, before the sauce reduces away.
3. Transfer the coloured pork into the group B ingredients, already boiling. Once it returns to the boil, add half the fried shallots and turn the heat down. Cook for 50–60 minutes, adding the rest of the fried shallots five minutes before the end. (Cook it longer or less, depending on how soft you like it.)
Two: cook the glutinous rice
Ingredients: (about 8 rice cake cups) Because this is steamed in a rice cooker, do not double the rice.
Short-grain glutinous rice 600 g
1. Rinse the rice and soak for 1–2 hours.
2. Tip the soaked rice onto a 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 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.
5. Lift the sieve out, let the blanched rice drain briefly, and set it on the trivet in the rice cooker.
6. Add one cup of water to the outer pot.
7. Put the lid on and press the switch. By the time it clicks off, the rice should be cooked.
Three: fry the filling and mix it through the rice
Dried shrimp 30 g
Dried shiitake 12 g
Dried scallops 50 g
Rice wine, as needed (enough to cover the scallops)
Enzyme-fed pork lard 50 g
Braising liquid from the pork 270 g
Cheng Chi fried shallots 3 tbsp (about 20 g)
Salt, to taste (soy sauces vary in saltiness, so adjust)
1. Soak the dried scallops in rice wine for at least an hour until soft and break them into shreds.
2. Soak the dried shrimp briefly and drain. Soak the shiitake until soft, slice, then chop finely.
3. Heat the lard in a wok and fry the scallops gently over a low heat until fragrant, then the shiitake, then the dried shrimp. Finally add the braising liquid and the fried shallots, cook briefly and turn off the heat.
4. Check it is slightly salty; if not, add salt.
5. Add the steamed glutinous rice and mix through evenly.
Four: fill the cups
1. Lift out pieces of the braised pork and lay them flat in the bottom of each rice cake cup, then fill with the seasoned rice, pressing it down firmly with a spoon to about nine tenths full.
2. Steam in the rice cooker for about one cup of water’s worth of time.
(If the rice was on the dry side, add a little water to the top of each cup before steaming.)
Note:
When you take the braising liquid, skim the fat off the top first so you do not add too much.