This Chinese sticky rice dish is loaded with ground pork, shrimp, Chinese sausage, shiitake mushrooms, and a flavorful sauce that's all cooked up in the rice cooker! It's an easy way to make this deliciously popular Chinese dish!
When one thinks about Chinese food, one automatically envisions a bowl of plain white rice.
But you never see white rice served alone because...well, it's really plain!
By itself, a bowl of white rice leaves you asking, "What's there to go with it?"
It's kind of like a blank canvas that needs some color...or flavor in this case.
Chinese sticky rice, on the other hand, is anything but plain...it is a flavorful work of art, ready to be enjoyed!
My Chinese sticky rice, or "lo mai fan", is loaded with tasty ingredients like Chinese sausage, Chinese mushrooms, ground pork, and shrimp, all cooked up in a delicious, yet mild sauce.
Add some Thai glutinous rice to the mix and you have a bowl of perfection.
A couple of notes about Thai glutinous rice:
1) It contains no gluten, despite the sound of the word. The "glutinous" in this case merely means "like glue", or simply...sticky!
2) It might also be called "Thai sweet rice"...but it's not sweet!
3) When you go looking for it in the store, it may not say "Thai" at all. You might see it labeled as simply "glutinous rice" or "sweet rice".
And just for some added insight into this recipe, the first thought might be to put the rice in the rice cooker first and then top it with all the filling. I tried this method a few times and every time I did, the rice came out too mushy. Mushy is never good for rice.
The rice in lo mai fan is meant to be steamed, not boiled, but if you don't have the whole steamer set-up (like me), this is the way to make it work in the rice cooker!
The grains of rice are tender with just the right amount of stickiness...no mushy rice or wet clumps!
This recipe really hits the spot for flavor, texture, and balance of all the ingredients. As my niece, Deanna pointed out, "It looks like Grandma's!"
And while I couldn't officially name this recipe "Mom's Chinese Sticky Rice", it is my own creation that definitely makes me think of my childhood and how my mom made it!
So if you've got a rice cooker, this is the perfect recipe to try and cook up something more exciting than plain white rice!
~ Lisa.
Watch How To Make It!
Rice Cooker Chinese Sticky Rice
Ingredients
- 2 cups Thai glutinous rice (see note below)
- ½ lb. (225g) ground pork
- ¼ lb. (115g) shrimp, deveined and shells and tails removed (about 12 medium-sized)
- 2 Chinese sausages
- 2-3 medium sized dried shiitake mushrooms
- 1 ¼ cups water
Sauce:
- 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoons soy sauce (tamari for gluten-free)
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 1 clove garlic, minced or grated
- ½ teaspoon tapioca starch (cornstarch okay)
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
Equipment
Instructions
Soaking:
- Place dried mushrooms in a bowl with hot water and let soak for at least 2 hours until softened. (See note below)
- Run cold water through the rice in a strainer. Stir the rice with your hand to wash and rinse it well until the water is mostly running clear.
- Soak the rice in a bowl of water for at least 2 hours.
When ready to cook:
- Combine the 3 tablespoons oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon soy sauce (or tamari), 1 teaspoon grated ginger, minced garlic clove, ½ teaspoon tapioca starch, ½ teaspoon sesame oil, and ¼ teaspoon white pepper in a bowl and mix well to make the sauce. Set aside.
- Drain the rice through a colander, discarding the water.
- Remove mushrooms from soaking liquid and gently squeeze out some of the water. Cut of and discard tough stems. Cut mushroom caps into slices or chunks.
- Slice Chinese sausages into disks.
- Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add Chinese sausage and ground pork and cook until pork is mostly cooked through.
- Add mushrooms and sauce to the pan and stir. Heat through.
- Add shrimp and cook until just starting to turn pink and remove from heat.
- Transfer Chinese sausage mixture to the rice cooker pot and level out.
- Add drained rice on top and level out.
- Add 1 ¼ cups water to the rice cooker.
- Cook until rice cooker button pops, or for about 25 minutes. Let sit for another 5-10 minutes. Rice should be completely cooked and slightly translucent.
- Fluff rice with chopsticks, stirring well to mix the rice and filling ingredients.
- Garnish with chopped green onions, if desired.
Notes
- The longer you soak the dried shiitake mushrooms, the better so you can slice into them very easily and do not see any dry area inside. Soaking overnight is the easiest thing to do.
- I find larger shiitake mushrooms tend to hydrate faster than small ones, but they do cost more.
- You can use fresh shiitake mushrooms, but they will not have the same deep umami flavor as the dried mushrooms.
- When buying the rice, the bag will either say "Thai glutinous rice" or "Thai sweet rice", or the word "Thai" might be excluded.
- Use a regular 1 cup measuring cup to measure the rice; do not use the plastic measuring cup that comes with your rice cooker.
- Some Chinese sausages have a dry casing that should be removed before slicing the sausage, depending on the brand and how they made it.
- The dry shiitake mushrooms can be omitted, if desired.
- You can use chicken thighs cut into small pieces, or cha siu in place of the Chinese sausage and/or shrimp.
- I use frozen shrimp and thaw them in cold water for about 30 minutes before cooking.
- To reheat any leftovers, place in a dish and steam, or microwave with a bit of water in the dish. Microwaving may dry the rice out a little, but works in a pinch.
Nutrition
Lisa - your recipes are always dependably easy and delicious, and this was no exception. I omitted the pork and used more prawns (so I could use up the entire bag at once -- I don't like having odds and ends left over). I used both fresh and dry shiitakes. I ran out of oyster sauce (only 2 tbsp left in my bottle) so I made up the difference with some Korean spicy stir-fry marinade I had in my fridge (it has the same consistency as oyster sauce, so I thought, why not?). It turned out AMAZING plus it has a bit of kick, which I love! Thank you - I can't wait to tell my mom I made sticky rice!!!
Thanks so much, Patricia! I love how you made it work successfully with what you had on hand...bravo! Sounds like you'll have to be making it for you mom soon!
Can this recipe be double? If yes, would the cooking time need to be adjusted?
If you have a rice cooker that has a button that pops up or that tells you when the rice is done, then doubling the recipe should be no problem. The rice cooker determines it is done when it doesn't sense any more or liquid to cook off, so just go with how ever long the rice cooker takes. Hope that helps, Geneva!
Ohhh, it's so good! I'm almost halfway through the entire thing in one sitting. It really hits the craving I've had all this lockdown. Pretty hard to mess up too - I eyeballed a little too much to be proud of and was resorting to powdered ginger and semi expired oyster sauce. Tastes perfect minus the slight leafy taste!
Thanks, Marsie...we do what we can with what we've got to make it work, right? I'm really glad you liked it and that it satisfied your craving.
For some silly reason my Tiger rice cooker kept going to "Keep Warm"! I've had to transfer it to a pot and cook on the stovetop, Cross fingers it works!
How odd that your rice cooker kept going to Keep Warm...and the rice wasn't cooked through yet? I hope it worked out on the stovetop, Jenny!
Lisa, we just had your sticky rice for dinner, and it was fantastic. This will be a regular for us! We have only a 3-cup rice cooker, so I actually made it in two batches. Not sure why I didn’t just halve the recipe. It took our rice cooker the full time—about 45 minutes or more—to cook this perfectly; after 25 minutes it was barely started. Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe for one of my dim sum favorites!
Thanks so much, Bob! I'm really happy that you liked the recipe and that you made it work with you smaller rice cooker! There's nothing like being able to recreate a restaurant favorite at home. 🙂
I am dying to make this but I only have jasmine rice or sushi rice. Can either be used in a pinch? How would you adjust water?
Thanks for the question, Victoria. Neither jasmine rice or sushi rice are the same as glutinous rice, but if you were to use one, the sushi rice is probably the best bet. Follow the recipe instructions as stated and do not adjust the water. Let me know how it turns out!
Thank you! I am making this today!
So great to be able to make this in the rice cooker rather than on stove top. Thank you!
Great recipe without the fuss of wrapping and steaming (for hours) the traditional way. Added a bit more meat for a hearty meal. Thanks for the inspiration!
That sounds great! Thanks for the comment, Gene.
Delicious flavors. First time making it and I loved it. I use 4 Chinese sausages, and doubled the Chinese mushrooms. Did not have fresh shrimp, so used some dried shrimps after soaking in water to dehydrate them. I also used an Instant Pot, 4 minutes HP. It came out perfect. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
I'm so glad you liked it, Samantha! And that's really good to know that it worked in the Instant Pot, too...thanks for sharing how your cooked it!
This recipe looks so awesome with many good feedbacks. So i am also trying this out today using chicken instead of minced pork. I have a question. After adding the 1 1/4 cups water into rice cooker, i do not see the water covering the rice... as should be when cooking regular rice in a rice cooker. So i am wondering if this is ok?? haha... i will have to see in 25 min time when the button on cooker pops!!!
Thank you!
Yes, the rice should not be covered with water as it is being steamed in this recipe and not boiled. Let me know how it turns out, June!
Can you use fresh shiitake mushrooms instead of dried?
Yes, you can, Jen, but the fresh shiitake mushrooms will not give the same depth of umami flavor that dried mushrooms do. But give it a try! You can always adjust some of the sauce, too, to achieve the right flavor.
Loved this recipe sooo much!! Been craving this dish for sooo long, glad I can now make it on my own and is sooo easy to do! Thank you was delicious!!
I'm so happy my recipe can help you to make this sticky rice at home, Michelle! So glad you liked it!
I’ve always loved sticky rice (both savory and sweet), but thought it’d be complicated to make and that you had to have a steamer. Found this recipe to make in the rice cooker, and it will now be my go-to recipe for sticky rice! I omitted the sausage and used ground turkey and shrimp and wood-ear mushrooms instead of shiitake (basically I used whatever I had on-hand). It turned out wonderful and delicious! I think as long as you keep the basic rice-water-seasoning ratios, then the rest of the ingredients are flexible. It really is a great recipe and I will be making it again very soon! I also used this rice to water ratio to make a sweet coconut sticky rice (using 1/2 water, 1/2 coconut cream) and it also turned out just perfect!!! Thank you so much for sharing.
Wow, Thanh! That sounds like a great combination, and yes, you're right, the rest of the ingredients can be flexible. I'm so glad you like it! Thanks for sharing your tip about making the sweet coconut sticky rice, too!