Sticky Rice Cooked In Bamboo Com Lam Recipes

Steps:

• Fill the steamer pot with water as full as you can without the bottom of the basket touching the water and set the pot over high heat. Drain the rice, being careful not to break the grains. When the water boils, place the rice in the bamboo basket and rest the basket in the top of the pot. Steam the rice over rapidly boiling water, stopping when it has barely turned glossy and is still dry (it will be cooked again), about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat.
• While the rice is still hot, combine the coconut cream, coconut milk, coconut oil, sugar, and salt in a 2-quart saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the hot sticky rice, making sure every grain is separate and coated with the coconut syrup. The mixture will appear soupy at this point, but don't panic. Cover the pan tightly and leave the rice undisturbed at room temperature for 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, wipe the banana leaves clean with a damp cloth, then cut into 12 pieces, each 12 by 10 inches, with the 10-inch side parallel to the leaf grain. Have ready 24 toothpicks.
• After an hour, the rice will have absorbed the hot coconut syrup, cooled, and become firmer. At this point, it should be fully cooked but not soft, and tender enough to eat. Use a butter knife to divide it, directly in the saucepan, into quarters. Then divide each quarter into three equal wedges. Lay a piece of banana leaf, dull side up and with a long side facing you, on a work surface. Place a portion of the sticky rice in the center of the leaf. Use your fingers to form the rice into a flat, oblong bed parallel with the grain of the leaf. The bed should be about the length of a banana half and twice its width. Press a banana half firmly into the center of the rice bed. Using your fingers, gently fold the overhangs of the sticky rice over the banana half and manipulate it so it covers the banana entirely. With the banana leaf positioned in such a way that its grain is perpendicular to your body, lift up the left edge of the leaf and fold it along the grain over the filled sticky rice, tucking it in tightly. Continue to roll from left to right, forming a compact packet. Secure each end with a toothpick, positioned as close to the rice as possible. Trim off the overhangs, leaving only about 1 inch on each end. Repeat with the remaining banana leaves, sticky rice, and banana halves.
• To grill the packets, light natural wood charcoal and allow it to burn until you have low coals under a heavy layer of ash. Grill the packets directly over the coals, flipping them every 5 minutes, until the leaves are thoroughly charred and the packets are heated through. This should take 35 to 45 minutes. Alternatively, place an oven rack in the lowest position in the oven and preheat the broiler (if your broiler is adjustable, set it at low). Arrange the banana packets on a large sheet pan, place the pan on the oven rack, and broil the packets, flipping them every 5 minutes, until the leaves are charred and the packets are heated through, about 40 minutes (fewer, if your broiler automatically sets at high). Leave the packets to cool for about 15 minutes before serving.
• Leftover packets can be frozen, then thawed overnight in the refrigerator and baked in a preheated 350°F oven until softened and heated through, 30 minutes.

Steps:

• Start the day before you want to make the dumplings!
• Soak rice, mung beans and bamboo leaves in separate containers overnight. Place a bowl or plate over the bamboo leaves to keep them submerged.
• Combine 2 tsp salt, black pepper, 1 clove garlic, rice wine, water, rock sugar, cinnamon, white pepper, cloves, coriander, fennel, fenugreek and 2 tbsp canola oil in bowl. Stir in cubed pork, cover and refrigerate overnight.
• The next day, drain rice and set aside.
• In a wok, heat remaining canola oil and stirfry remaining garlic, carrot, onion and ginger until slightly softened. Add chicken broth, 1 tsp salt, and fish sauce and stir well. Strain any excess marinade from pork and add to wok, (return Pork to fridge) and heat until bubbling. Add drained rice and stir frequently until liquid is absorbed. Let sit until cool enough to handle.
• Meanwhile, transfer bamboo leaves to large pot of boiling water and simmer 30 minutes to soften and sterilize. (Vinegar can be added here to soften them further.) Wipe each leaf with a sponge or scrubbing pad under cool running water to remove any remaining soil. You can trim off the stems with scissors.
• Drain mung beans and add white sugar and remaining 1/4 tsp salt.
• Prepare 25 or so 4' lengths of string. I tied groups of 5 together at one end, with a loop to hang from a hook on my cabinet. Then as I tie up my dumplings, they are hanging from the string and I can put them in and take them out of pots in groups of 5.
• Lay out your wrapping materials: softened bamboo leaves, rice mixture, mung beans and pork. You may want to keep the bowl of marinated pork in a larger bowl full of ice to keep it cold while you wrap.
• Take 2 bamboo leaves, overlapping along their long sides about half-way, and form a cone (see videos). Pat in about 2 tbsp rice mixture, then 1/2 tbsp mung beans, then 2 or 3 pieces of pork, another 1/2 - 1 tbsp mung beans, then cover with another 2 or 3 tbsp of rice mixture. You may need to add a third bamboo leaf to extend the cone.
• Use the ends of the leaves to firmly compress the cone of ingredients, and roughly shape the open end into a square or rectangle. Closing the bamboo leaf is tricky. I held the cone with the leaf ends pointing away from me. I folded the near edge towards the middle, folded the ends towards me over that, and carefully folded each side towards the middle, ensuring that the corners were covered. I always oriented my leaves the same way, so one side was leaf ends and the other was stem ends. I aimed to get the leaf ends under the stem ends. Then wind string around it until it seems secure. Keep wrapping dumplings until the filling is all gone. As I said, the first one took about 20 minutes, and several tries before it looked like it would hold together. The first 5 or so were quite ugly! But then I got the hang of it.
• Heat a large pot or wok of salted water to boil. Place a few extra or ripped bamboo leaves in first, then some dumplings, then some more leaves. The water should just about cover the dumplings. I did 10 at a time in my wok and large pot. Bring back to a boil, cover and reduce heat to medium-low to maintain a good bubbling simmer for 2 hours, adding water about half-way through. They should be puffed slightly and feel firm but squishy when you squeeze them. Drain and rinse off with cool water.
• Allow to cool or eat some hot right away. Remainder will keep in the fridge for 3-5 days, and they freeze well (up to 6 months in a good freezer, well-wrapped).