Ingredients

• 200g/7oz glutinous rice (sticky rice)
• covered in water and soaked for one hour
• then drained
• 4 Chinese dried black mushrooms
• 200g/7oz skinless boneless chicken thighs
• 100g/3½oz pork loin
• chopped into small pieces
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 garlic clove
• chopped
• 2 Chinese sausages (lap cheong)
• or alternatively sweet cured bacon
• chopped
• 2 tbsp Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1½ tsp cornflour
• ¼ tsp sesame oil
• freshly ground black or white pepper
• to taste
• 4 lotus leaves
• cut in half

Directions

• Line a bamboo steamer with parchment paper perforated with holes (or a banana leaf or cabbage leaf). Fill a wok approximately half-way with water so that the steamer will be sitting above the water without touching. Bring the water to a boil
• cover the rice and steam for about 20 minutes. Remove the rice
• cover and keep warm while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
• Soften the dried mushrooms by soaking in a bowl of hot water for 20-30 minutes. Squeeze out any excess water
• remove the stems and finely chop.
• Cut the chicken into small cubes about the size of a postage stamp. Season the chicken and pork with salt.
• Heat a wok and add the oil for frying. When the oil is hot
• add the garlic and stir fry until aromatic (about 30 seconds). Add the chicken cubes and pork. Stir fry until they turn white and are 80 percent cooked through.
• Add the sausages and the drained mushrooms. Stir fry for another minute.
• In a small bowl
• combine the rice wine with the light soy and dark soy sauce. In a separate small bowl
• dissolve the cornflour in one tablespoon of water
• and whisk it into the sauce.
• Give the sauce mixture a quick re-stir and then add it to the wok
• stirring quickly to thicken. Season with pepper
• to taste. Cook for 1-2 more minutes to mix everything together and heat through. Remove from the heat and stir in the sesame oil. Leave to cool.
• To make the wraps
• separate the rice and the filling into eight equal sections
• one section for each wrap. Lay out a lotus leaf in front of you. Place a portion of the rice mixture into the centre of a lotus leaf. Add the meat and vegetable mixture over the top
• shaping the rice with your hands so that it forms a ring around the filling. Add more rice to cover.
• Form a square parcel with the lotus leaf and tie it up with kitchen string. Repeat with the remaining lotus leaves.
• Steam the lotus leaf parcels
• covered
• on a heatproof plate in a bamboo steamer for 15 minutes
• or until they are cooked through. Serve at once.