Recipe: Sticky rice with Chinese sausage | Xoi lap xuong

It's been a while since I posted a recipe or talked about cooking, for that matter. Enough with all that blind stuff, eh? Let's take a break from all the tech talk and get back in the kitchen. Last week was my mama's birthday--she would've turned 61--so here's a dish from her repertoire. A comfort food I crave every so often is xoi lap xuong, a very easy dish to prepare using sticky, sweet rice and Chinese sausage. My mother used to make this and shape the rice into a perfect circle, spreading the sausage in one layer on top so that each bite contained exactly one slice of the dark red, fatty meat. Because this dish was so delicious, I thought it took a lot of skill to make. Little did I know after experimenting in the kitchen years later that xoi lap xuong was a very simple meal.There are many different components to this dish, and it's one of those things that different mamas prepare them in different ways. Here is my version along with some possible variations noted below. This is definitely a dish where if the Blind can Cook it, so can you. 

: Sweet Rice with Chinese Sausage

: Xoi Lap Xuong

 

1. 1.5 c. uncooked sweet rice
2. 1/4 to 1/2 c. raw peanuts
3. 4 to 6 Chinese sausage, sliced on the bias
4. 3 stalks scallions, finely chopped
5. 3 shallot cloves, finely sliced
6. 2 tbsp. oil

 

1. Steam rice and peanuts together in a rice cooker.
2. In a lg. skillet, heat oil over med.-high heat. Add scallions and shallots and saute until tender, approx. 5 min. Set aside in a bowl.
3. In the same skillet, pan-fry Chinese sausage over med. heat, stirring frequently until crispy. Using a slotted spoon, set aside.
4. Serve Chinese sausage over sticky rice. Drizzle oil and scallion and shallot mixture over the top. Season with Maggi sauce.

Preparation time: 20 minute(s)Cooking time: 30 minute(s)

 Since my husband was on a pork fast, I made some chicken for him to eat with the sticky rice. Take 6 chicken thighs and cut into pieces. Marinade with 1 tbsp. honey, 1 tbsp. brown sugar, and salt & pepper to taste. After cooking the Chinese sausage, cook the chicken in the same skillet, using the sausage fat for flavor. You can also serve finely shredded pork (thit cha bong or thit ruoc) over the top--it looks like carpet meat but I grew up with the stuff. You can also added dried onion bits or crispy pork skin. Like I said, there is not one right way to eat this. The only constants are the sweet rice, the oil and scallion mixture, and the Maggi sauce.