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Steamed Chicken in Lotus Leaf
Steamed Chicken in Lotus Leaf – I love the earthy aroma lotus leaves impart to the dish, and most of all, I love it that the leaves retain the moisture and natural flavors of the ingredients.
Ingredients:
1 lb bone-in chicken, chop into pieces
1 1/2-in fresh ginger, cut into thin strips
2 mushrooms, soaked in warm water, discard the stems, and sliced the caps into small pieces
1 Chinese lap cheong (sausage), sliced diagonally
1/2 tablespoon oil
1 stalk scallion, cut into small rounds
1 dried lotus leaf
Marinade
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
1/4 teaspoon Chinese rose wine, optional
1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/4 teaspoon sugar
3 dashes white pepper
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons water
1/2 tablespoon corn starch
Method:
Marinate the chicken, mushrooms, and chopped scallion with all the ingredients in the Marinade for about 30 minutes.
Heat up a wok or skillet with the cooking oil.
Stir-fry the Chinese lap cheong or sausage until aromatic.
Add the Chinese sausage (together with the oil in the wok) to the chicken and mushrooms. Stir to blend well.
Heat up a pot of water and bring it to boil. Scald/blanch the lotus leaf with the boiling water until it becomes soft.
Wipe both sides of the leaves dry with paper towels and place the chicken in the middle of the leaf.
Fold the sides up and wrap it tightly into a parcel. (Make sure it’s fold tight to avoid the juice from the steamed chicken chicken from leaking out.) Lay it on a deep plate and prepare to steam.
Steam the chicken parcel for about 25-30 minutes or until all the chicken pieces are cooked through. Unwrap the parcel and serve the steamed chicken immediately with steamed rice.
I have always loved sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf (荷叶饭), commonly available at Cantonese dim sum restaurants. I love the earthy aroma lotus leaves impart to the dish, and most of all, I love it that the leaves retain the moisture and natural flavors of the ingredients. The leafy nuance and fragrance complement and not compete with the preparation. Lotus leaf is really wonderful and I wonder why it’s not as widely used in home-cooking as it should be. So, I decided to purchase a pack of lotus leaf and try it out in my everyday Chinese cooking.
I used the lotus leaf to make steamed chicken—a common Chinese dish. After the first bite of the deeply flavorful and nicely-scented chicken, I have only regretted it has taken me this long to attempt using lotus leaf in my kitchen, when it was fairly easy and so convenient.
With the experiment last night, I resolve to use it more and a few ideas have popped-up in my mind: sticky rice, salt-baked chicken, steamed spare ribs, and maybe even beggar’s chicken. I am so thrilled with the many possibilities…
Below is my steamed chicken recipe. You can make the steamed chicken regularly without wrapping it with lotus leaves, but trust me, once you do it this way, you will probably never go back to the plain version.
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June
This steamed chicken looks really good, I can imagine the good taste. Where did you get the lotus leaf?
NYMY
I love Beggar’s chicken. I hope you can share the recipe of Beggar’s chicken. Thanks in advance.
David N.
What a creative looking recipe…oh my beyond delicious!
Marc @ NoRecipes
I need to get a pack of those next time I’m in Chinatown. I love lo mai gai at dimsum and the chicken and lap cheong inside are the best parts!
Rasa Malaysia
Marc – yes, I need to make lo mai gai now that I have these lotus leaves. :)
the lacquer spoon
Chunky chicken in the natural wrapping paper is like a surprising summer gift! Love the elegant aroma of lotus leaf :)
tigerfish
Yea, wanted to ask the same question regarding where you get the lotus leaves. There are some Cantonese restaurants that serve lotus leaf fried rice…it is very very delicious if done well :)
Rasa Malaysia
99 Ranch has it. It’s at the bottom shelves where they also sell the chang leaves. :)
babe_kl
Bee, I liked the fragrance impart from the lotus leaves to the food too! This dish of yours is a superb idea of steaming chicken.
JessS
Whoa, that looks so good and definitely reminds me of 2 of my favorite dishes at a dim sum restaraunt. I live in Baltimore and haven’t been able to find lap cheong anywhere, do you know if they allowed to sell them online? I’ve looked on amazon but doesn’t quite look right. Anyhow, love your blog and this recipe looks so delicious.
Eleanor Hoh (WokStar)
Sticky rice is my husband’s favorite dim sum item too, Bee. You’re right, you can use it to wrap all sorts of goodies. Thnx for the idea, got to try it. Looks incredibly appetizing.
momgateway
I love food wrapped and cooked in leaves. This is so yummy. Thanks for the recipe.
delia
Hi, just wondering whether we can use fresh lotus leaves instead of dried ones? thanks.
Rasa Malaysia
Probably not. Dried leaves have special aroma, green leaves, I don’t think so.
{kms}
my absolute childhood favorite for dim sum…and still now as an adult!
[email protected]økken69
Hi Bee, are dried lotus leaves easier to handle than fresh ones? I have seen the dried ones sold at Chinese medical halls and I am wondering if after soaking, they would be more pliable than the fresh leaves…
Rasa Malaysia
Shirley – I have never used fresh lotus leaf before so I don’t know the texture but the dried ones are pretty easy to handle, after blanching in hot water. You should try it out.
TasteHongKong
I love this dish, just wondering why not making it recently. I should better take yours as a reminder, thanks.
While dried lotus leaves are popular here for preparing different dishes, we also like to cook the fresh ones with winter melon as a soup during summer, which is said to help reduce dampness and heat in our bodies : ).
Rasa Malaysia
I don’t know that fresh lotus leaves are edible, and can be made into soup. Interesting.
Lori Lynn
The lotus leaf is so interesting, I am intrigued by the earthy aroma. Like the package presentation. Would love to try this!
LL
lc tan
want to try the recipe but realise you did not mention abt the ginger strips. when do i add it. thanks
Laura
Huh, chicken looks great.
chaitanya prabhakar
hai this prabhakar
Sms
very funny… and cool and making fool. nice.
siddiq ahmed
i have read this side, its really amazing the fantastic recipes
Zany
Hi. I can’t found the oyster sauce in market. Is there any other sauce which i can use in place of this sauce.