Chinese Gambling Rice

Chinese Gambling Rice

So, I finally got around to my next assignment from the Cooking Mamas: Chinese Gambling Rice, or “pua kiao beng” in the Teochew Chinese dialect of Singapore, from where this recipe originates. My fellow Cooking Mama, Eva, found this recipe and an evocative story about preserving ties to our cultural past through passing on family recipes, written by author Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/22/AR2011032202865.html

I adore the history behind the name of this dish, which the author’s grandmother served to keep gamblers in their seats longer, instead of having to leave her illicit gambling den in search of food. That’s a practical and smart woman for you --  serve a rice dish that gamblers can hold in one hand while continuing to gamble. 

While reviewing the list of ingredients, I could already smell and just about taste the familiar aroma of rich Chinese black mushrooms (which are believed to be an aphrodisiac) and dried shrimp (ha mai). This recipe is a very flexible one, in the same way that fried rice can be, and it can have many variations--you can substitute any meat that you want and adjust the seasonings. In Hong Kong, where my family comes from, this would be cooked over a gas hob in an earthenware pot, and called “boh zai fan”, or, literally, small pot rice. When you cook rice that way, you must watch over the rice very carefully and stir it often, to avoid burning the rice on the bottom of the pot, but you have to cook it just enough for the rice to form a crusty bottom, which you then scrape up and mix into the soft rice.  Ahhh... the tastes and textures of my past are coming back...

It is a wonderful dish for autumn and winter, as the rice really warms one’s belly -- one of my favorite comfort foods. In fact, it reminds me of one of my favorite childhood recipes for Chinese sticky rice with Chinese mushrooms and Chinese sausage (nuo mai fan). I made nuo mai fan as the stuffing for my Thanksgiving turkey and served it to my husband’s family, who are French, worried that they might not like it. But they finished every last bite. 

The combination of the smokey, buttery flavor of the tender dark mushrooms, with the savoury/sweet taste of the Chinese sausage (lap cheung) is just.... ahhhh .... I made this dish with regular rice tonight, and my French-Chinese children were already asking me to make it again. Even our 4 year old French neighbour, who was joining us for dinner, finished a whole bowl.

You can find the original recipe that Tan posted at: http://projects.washingtonpost.com/recipes/2011/03/23/chinese-gambling-rice/

Mushrooms, Chinese sausage, dried shrimp, garlic & ginger 

Here’s my own version (with my customized ingredients in italics):

Ingredients (Serves 8):

• 1.1 pounds (about 2 3/4 cups) white short-grain rice 
• 1/2 cup vegetable or corn oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced, and 3 slices of ginger, julienned
• 1 3/4 ounces (about 1 1/2 cups) dried Chinese black or shiitake mushrooms, soaked in warm water until softened, then drained, stemmed and cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 11 ounces pork belly, cut into small dice (1 3/4 cups) (I used poitrine de porc, demi sel, from the local boucherie)
• 3 Chinese sausages (lap cheung), diced
• 80 to 85 grams (1 package; about 2 cups) dried shrimp (hei bi/ha mai), soaked in warm water until softened, then drained and cut into small pieces
• 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce, 
• 2 tablespoons of Chinese cooking wine 
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil



Before: Chou vert and poitrine de porc

• 3/4 pound (about 1/2 medium) green cabbage (discoloured or wilted outer leaves discarded), shredded and soaked in water until ready to use.

If you live in Paris, you can find the Chinese ingredients at Tang Frères, in the 13ème or 15ème, or Waseng in the 15ème. 

Directions: 

Wash the rice in a large bowl of water, then drain. Repeat this process until the fresh water you pour into the bowl no longer becomes cloudy when you stir the rice around in it. Transfer the drained rice to a large rice cooker. Add enough water so it covers the rice by about 3/4 inch. 

All sliced and diced

Start the rice cooker. Heat a large wok over medium-high heat. Add the oil and swirl to coat the sides. Add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 3 to 5 minutes, until they're lightly browned. Add the diced mushrooms and the diced Chinese sausage to the wok; stir-fry for about 5 minutes, then add the diced pork belly to the wok; stir-fry for about 5 minutes or until the pork has browned, then add the drained, chopped dried shrimp; stir-fry for about 3 minutes.

Stir in the rest of the ingredients except for the cabbage and stir-fry until the sauce is well incorporated. Finally, add the cabbage and stir fry for about one minute, until just wilted. Taste, and add salt if needed.

When the rice is at a full boil (not at the beginning as indicated in Tan's recipe, or the meat will be overcooked), transfer the stir fried ingredients to the rice cooker, stirring to incorporate. Close the lid to the rice cooker and continue to cook until the rice is done.

The wonderful aroma of the mushrooms is everywhere.

All stir fried and ready to be added to the rice.

When the rice is done, it will be moist, soft and flavorful throughout.

Serve immediately, with sweet soya sauce and chili sauce as desired.

Et voila! I like to eat rice the traditional way, in a rice bowl with chopsticks!