🍙 Lo mai gai (sticky rice in lotus leaf)

Name: Lo mai gai (sticky rice in lotus leaf)
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: China · Guangdong
Ingredients: 400 g glutinous rice, soaked 4 hours; 300 g chicken thigh, diced; 6 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked and sliced; 2 Chinese sausages, sliced; 2 dried lotus leaves, soaked; 1 tbsp vegetable oil; Salt, white pepper, ½ tsp five-spice

Origin: China · Guangdong

412kcal

per serving · 250 g

165kcal

per 100 g

18 gProtein7 g / 100 g

12 gFat5 g / 100 g

60 gCarbs24 g / 100 g

Lo mai gai is a Cantonese dim sum dish of glutinous rice wrapped in a lotus leaf around a filling of chicken, shiitake mushrooms and sweet Chinese sausage, then steamed. The leaf gives the rice a subtle, earthy fragrance, and the rice turns sticky and savoury from the filling's juices. It is unwrapped at the table and eaten hot.

Diets

✓

Dairy-freeno milk, cheese, butter or yogurt in a typical recipe

Not vegetarianbecause of: chicken, chinese sausage

Not veganbecause of: chicken, chinese sausage

Contains porkbecause of: chinese sausage

Contains glutenno wheat, barley or rye in a typical recipe

Not keto24 g carbs per 100 g

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Gluten ⚠ Crustaceans ⚠ Soy

What it is made of

sticky ricechickenmushroomchinese sausagelotus leaf

Recipe

4 servings90 min

Ingredients

400 g glutinous rice, soaked 4 hours
300 g chicken thigh, diced
6 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked and sliced
2 Chinese sausages, sliced
2 dried lotus leaves, soaked
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Salt, white pepper, ½ tsp five-spice

Method

Drain the rice and steam it for 25 minutes; season with salt.
Stir-fry the chicken, mushrooms and sausage in the oil for 5 minutes with salt, pepper, five-spice and a little mushroom soaking water.
Cut each lotus leaf in half. Place a layer of rice, then filling, then more rice, and fold into tight parcels.
Steam the parcels for 30 minutes and serve hot.

How to make it lighter

One parcel is a full meal in a dim sum spread — share it if ordering other dishes.
Use less sausage and more chicken and mushrooms for a leaner filling.
Serve with steamed greens to balance the starchy rice.

History

Lo mai gai is a staple of Cantonese dim sum, served in teahouses in Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Smaller versions wrapped in a single leaf are also sold as a snack in Chinese bakeries and dim sum restaurants abroad.

Count it in one photo

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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →