Stewed Rice with Chinese Sausages and Shiitake Mushrooms

中文菜谱： 香肠香菇油饭

I make this dish whenever I am don’t have much time to cook but still want to have a good home cooked meal, or when I am just simply too lazy to prepare several courses.  O(∩_∩)O~

In one single pan, sausages provide protein; rice provides carbohydrate and shiitake mushrooms provide vitamins.  What more does one need? 

Ingredients：

2 cups of short grain rice
250 to 300g fresh shiitake mushrooms (sold in most Asian grocery markets)
1 package of Chinese sausages (12 oz. sold in most Asian grocery markets)
1 small onion
1 to 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/4  teaspoon five spice powder
2 gloves of garlic, peeled and minced
3 to 4 tablespoons soy sauce
1 to 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
chicken broth/ water (about 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 cups)
salt to taste

Directions：

Use a damp kitchen paper towel to wipe clean the shiitake mushrooms.  In Asia, people believe rinsing fresh mushrooms under running water could ruin their delicate aroma.  The best way to clean them is with damp cloth or paper towel. 

When shopping in Asian grocery market, remember to get the sausages from Canton or Hong Kong areas.  They usually taste a bit both sweet and savory, which makes them perfect for stewing together with rice and mushrooms.

Dice the mushrooms, onion and sausages.  

Heat a wok over high heat.  Add oil and diced sausages.  Stir fry until the sausages turn golden brown.

I use a Staub perfect pan for the dish.  It is very sturdy and heats evenly, which is perfect for Asian style sauté, stir fry and stew. 

Add minced garlic and chopped onion.  Sauté for 3 to 4 minutes or until the onion turns soft and transparent. 

Add white rice, sauté for a couple minutes.  The rice should be evenly coated with oil and liquid in the pan. 

Add chopped shiitake mushrooms, along with oyster sauce, ground white pepper, five spice powder and salt.  Continue to sauté for another 3 to 5 minutes. 

Add chicken broth / water.

When it comes to a boil, cover with lid.  Reduce the heat to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is cooked all the way through. 

The combination of Chinese sausages, shiitake mushrooms and rice smells really good!

With a wooden spoon, gently mix everything together.

Serve hot immediately.

Shiu Mai with Chinese Sausages, Shiitake Mushrooms, and Sweet Rice

中文菜谱： 香菇香肠糯米烧卖

I posted Shiu Mai with ground pork, mushrooms and sweet rice before: https://www.yankitchen.com/english-blog/2018/11/13/shiu-mai-with-ground-porkmushrooms-and-sweet-rice. 

It is a very popular choice in Dim Sum restaurants.  Cantonese’s style shiu mai is usually made with shrimps and pork.  I personally prefer the ones made with sweet rice. 

Shiu mai wraps are usually super thin and come with ruffled edges to achieve flower-like shape.  For the purpose of efficiency and easy operation, when making shiu mai at home, shiu mai wraps can be substituted with wonton wraps.

Ingredients：

1 pack wonton wraps (sold in most Asian grocery stores)
a handful fresh shitake mushrooms
1 cup of sweet rice
1 package of Chinese/ Cantonese/ Taiwanese style sausage  (sold in most Asian grocery stores)
1 to 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
3 to 4 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
salt to taste

Directions：

 Wipe the shiitake mushrooms clean with damp kitchen paper towel.

I use Taiwanese style sausage this time.  They taste quite similar to Cantonese sausage.  

Wonton wrap is available in every Asian grocery market. 

Dice up sausages and mushrooms.

Cook the sweet rice in a rice cooker.  Sweet rice requires less water than regular rice.  

Fold in soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce and ground white pepper.

Allow the rice mixture to chill for 10 minutes or so.

Fold in diced sausages and mushrooms.  Add salt to taste.  Gently mix everything together.

Add a couple tablespoons of sweet rice filling to center of the wonton wrap.

Wrap the edges towards the center.  Brush the wrap with water or egg wash if needed. 

Add a bamboo steamer lined with small squares of parchment paper.  

Repeat the process until all are finished.   The listed ingredients above yield about 50 to 60 shiu mais.  Freeze extra ones if they are too much for a single meal.

Fill a wok with water.  Cook over high heat until water boils.  Add steamer.  Continue to steam over high heat for 12 to 15 minutes.

Serve hot immediately.

The dipping sauce is made with balsamic vinegar + soy sauce + chili oil sauce. 

Smoked Sausage with Pork, Beef and Cheese

中文菜谱： 奶酪熏肠

After smoking ducks, chickens, ribs and beef briskets, I finally move on to sausages!  The electric smoker is truly a great addition to my kitchen O(∩_∩)O~

Ingredients：

2 pounds pork belly
1 pound beef chuckeye
2 tablespoons paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon of your favorite grill seasoning （ I use McCormick Montreal steak seasoning ）
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon freshly grinded black pepper
1 to 2 teablespoons brown sugar
1/3 to 1/2 cup of shredded parmesan cheese
1 to 2 teaspoons corn starch
salt to taste
chicken stock/ water（about 1cup）
sausage casing

Directions:

Dice up pork belly and beef chuckeye.  Finely grind them together with a meat grinder

Add paprika, ground ginger, onion powder, garlic powder, grill seasoning, black pepper, brown sugar, parmesan cheese, corn starch and salt.

With a pair of chopsticks or wooden spoon, whisk clockwise until the meat mixture becomes sticky and elastic.  Add chicken stock / water in between little by little.  Make sure all the liquid is absorbed before adding more stock. 

Switch meat grinder attachment to sausage stuffing attachment.

Prepare sausage casing

Start stuffing sausage

Use a thin bamboo stick to aerate the sausage.  By doing so, we can get rid of extra air bubbles inside the sausage to make sure even cooking and they will not explore during cooking process.

Preheat the smoker to 225F/107C

Add sausage.

3 to 4 hours later.  Aren’t they pretty?

The sausages are golden brown, smoky, a bit crunchy and crispy on the outside, but very tender and juicy on the inside.  All the spices in there and parmesan cheese are the reason how the sausages get so flavorful. O(∩_∩)O~