腊肠蒸鸡饭

Steamed Chicken and Sausage Rice

This warming Cantonese dish is traditionally cooked in small clay pots so there is one pot for each individual. Chinese sausage (lap cheong) tastes a little like a sweet salami, but it must be cooked before eating.

serves 4

4 dried Chinese mushrooms

250 g (9 oz) skinless chicken thigh fillet

1 teaspoon Shaoxing rice wine

2 teaspoons cornflour (cornstarch)

3 Chinese sausages (lap cheong)

200 g (7 oz/1 cup) long-grain rice

1 spring onion (scallion), chopped

sauce

2 tablespoons light soy sauce

1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine

½ teaspoon caster (superfine) sugar

½ garlic clove, chopped (optional)

½ teaspoon chopped ginger

½ teaspoon roasted sesame oil

Soak the dried mushrooms in boiling water for 30 minutes, then drain and squeeze out any excess water. Remove and discard the stems and shred the caps.

Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces and combine with a pinch of salt, the rice wine and cornflour.

Place the sausages on a plate in a steamer. Cover and steam over simmering water in a wok for 10 minutes, then thinly slice on the diagonal.

Put the rice in a bowl and, using your fingers as a rake, rinse under cold running water to remove any dust. Drain the rice in a colander. Place in a large clay pot or casserole or four individual clay pots and add enough water so that there is 2 cm (¾ inch) of water above the surface of the rice. Bring the water slowly to the boil, stir, then place the chicken pieces and mushrooms on top of the rice, with the sausage slices on top of them. Cook, covered, over very low heat for 15–18 minutes, or until the rice is cooked.

To make the sauce, combine the soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, garlic, ginger and sesame oil in a small saucepan and heat until nearly boiling. Pour the sauce over the chicken and sausage and garnish with the spring onion.